By Bill W. Cooper
With less than two months in office, President Joseph Boakai is said to be facing serious public scrutiny, with many believing that the President is being allegedly being ill-advised in his decision-making by his officials.
It follows after the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs recently wrote the General Auditing Commission GAC), requesting the decommissioning of an audit of the National Security Agency (NSA), which was earlier requested by the President.
This move has since raised serious questions amongst the citizenry, especially opposition leaders and political analysts, about the transparency and accountability of the Boakai administration to deliver on its promises to the Liberian people.
The NSA, like other government institutions, has long been a controversial entity in Liberia, with allegations of corruption swirling around it. As a result, the President then mandated the General Auditing Commission (GAC) to conduct a comprehensive audit of NSA.
In the President’s communication dated February 5, 2024, he also instructed the GAC to audit the Central Bank of Liberia CBL) and the Executive Protection Service (EPS), with a request that the audit cover the period between 2018 and 2023, and that its findings be reported in three months.
Accordingly, the audit period spans the six-year stewardship of the former government, which President Boakai promised to audit during the period of campaigning prior to his election victory in 2023.
However, it was the first time in years that the EPS and NSA, two security entities that receive budgetary allocations, were being subjected to audits, with many seeing the move as the beginning of a holistic audit of government ministries and agencies, in keeping with Boakai’s commitment to fighting corruption and ensuring transparency.
But in a communication from the GAC to the Senate Committee Chair on Public Accounts, Audit and Expenditure, in the possession of this paper, the Commission said, “We write to inform you that on February 5, 2024, the President, through the Minister of State, requested the GAC to conduct audits of the NSA, EPS, and CBL.”
“The request was then evaluated and accepted in line with the GAC, which is an independent body responsible for auditing government agencies, Act of 2014,” the release said.
It adds, “However, in a subsequent communication, referencing MOS-RL/SMG-COS/087/2024, dated March 8, 2024, the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs requested the Auditor General to decommission the NSA audit due to the sensitivity of its operations.”
“Please be informed that the request has been granted. This letter is intended to notify the National Legislature about the decommissioning of the NSA audit. However, we will continue to audit the CBL and EPS as per the initial request,” the release added.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of State’s latest request through the GAC’s communication to the Senate, requesting the halting of the NSA audit, has raised suspicions about the motives behind this decision.
Critics of President Boakai have now accused him of being ill-advised by his advisors, who they believe are “incompetent and lack the understanding of running a transparent and accountable government”.
According to them, the President has made too many errors in almost all of his decisions since assuming the Presidency, at the detriment of the citizenry and the Liberian Constitution he took an oath to protect and uphold.
They added that the decision to at first mandate the GAC to audit the NSA and later revert on said decision is also a blow to the government’s commitment to fighting corruption that has long been a major issue in the country.
However, the office of the President is yet to confirm the communication, but in the meantime, Liberians are now wondering as to whether their President is being ill-advised in his handling of the country
