By Bill W. Cooper
An audit conducted by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) has revealed serious financial irregularities and legal violations in the National Port Authority’s (NPA) contract with Global Maritime Tracking Systems (GMTS) for managing the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) program.
The audit findings, released recently, covering July 1, 2018, to October 31, 2024, have also raised serious concerns about the transparency and accountability of public contracts in the country.
The report further highlighted that the contract originally signed under the former Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) administration of former President George Weah did not follow required procurement procedures.
The audit also found no evidence that GTMS paid US$2.15 million in throughput fees over five years, including US$50,000 in 2020, US$250,000 in 2021, US$370,000 in 2022, and US$580,000 in 2023, all under the CDC government.
However, an additional US$900,000 is being listed for 2024 under the current Unity Party (UP) administration, as the report also found
no record of the US$3 million initial capital investment GTMS was required to make.
According to the findings, the company reportedly failed to install necessary CTN equipment as enshrined within the contractual agreement or deliver on contract obligations. The NPA also lacked adequate oversight.
The GAC further indicated that during the audit, they observed no evidence of establishing a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Compliance Committee by the NPA to review the CTN operations of GTMS, as mandated by the contract terms.
“The absence of a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Compliance Committee may impair effective contract monitoring and result in the lack of corrective actions needed to maintain the quality and efficiency of CTN operations.
Contract terms, conditions, and deliverables may not be implemented or executed up to approved specifications. Failure to pay the throughput fees to the NPA may lead to a breach of contract and deny the NPA much-needed revenue to fund the operations of the entity,” the report noted.
Meanwhile, the GAC is therefore recommending NPA to account for US$2,150,000.00 in throughput fees for the period from 2020 to 2024 not remitted by GTMS as required by the terms and conditions of the contract.
The report also called for a payment to be crafted and agreed between NPA and GTMS for full settlement of all arrears, as well as facilitate the collection of all arrears from throughput fees from GTMS consistent with the approved payment plan.
“Going forward, Management should facilitate the timely and comprehensive collection of throughput fees consistent with the terms and conditions of the contract. Management should also perform monthly reconciliation between throughput fees as required by the contract and actual throughput fees remitted by GTMS.
Variances identified should be documented, investigated, and addressed where applicable promptly. Evidence of monthly reconciliation reports, including copies of bills, bank statements, and other relevant supporting records, should be adequately documented and filed to facilitate future review,” the report revealed.
The report further disclosed that the NPA did not respond to our findings and recommendations, and asserted, “In the absence of Management’s response, we maintain our finding and recommendation. We will follow up on the implementation of our recommendation during a subsequent audit.”
The report maintained, “Management should establish and operationalise a functional Monitoring, Evaluation, and Compliance Committee to periodically monitor, evaluate, and report on CTN operations in line with the contract terms and conditions.”
“Gaps identified should be investigated and addressed where applicable promptly. Evidence of periodic monitoring, evaluation reports, and all relevant supporting records should be adequately documented and filed to facilitate future review.
So, in the absence of Management’s response, we maintain our findings and recommendations. We will follow up on the implementation of our recommendation during a subsequent audit,” the report added.
