By S. Siapha Mulbah
The Director General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA) is calling on national leaders to take politics out of government’s service delivery entities.
David Kemah stressed that institutions of government that are created to engage in critical service delivery must also be void of politics so that objectives critical to their missions are achievable, saying, “Without independent and objective leadership to manage entities so established, service delivery will continue to be challenging.”
According to him, when institutions with the mandates are sidestepped for ad-hoc arrangement, the scope becomes narrow and it is further complicated if some of the actors have political considerations, a situation for which he referenced the recent discrepancy which emanated from two major pronouncements about public finances from former President George Weah and President Joseph Boakai as a glaring example, and noted that it should never have happened at that level in government, given the level of public interest.
The IAA boss said to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the public sector, government must engage with entities that have the mandate to do specific jobs.
He maintained that this will allow them cut across entities and investigate audit-related issues, adding that when issue of significance is handled by ad-hoc committee or audit firm, the scope of their investigation or work is often limited.
He, however, called on Liberian professionals, including accountants and auditors, to strive every day to uphold their fiducial responsibility to the public, maintaining facts and independence and watching out for the integrity of the work they do.
He said professionalizing the public sector in effective service delivery is a process that requires training, continued education, and commitment to excellence.
Director Kemah has however revealed several factors, which he claims might impede national service delivery.
He said these factors need to be addressed urgently in order to have the nation getting along with the rest of the global community.
Kemah described mistrust, conflict of interest, and the lack of due care to public entities as major factors that impede service delivery in all sectors, noting that they also undermine the nation’s developmental agenda by achieving weak outcomes at institutional and national levels.
Speaking over the weekend at the program marking the Accountants’ Week of the Liberia Institute of Certified Public Accountants (LICPA), the IAA boss asserted that independence is key in the public and private sectors, adding that a compromise in public practice adds to the growing mistrust that has eroded public confidence in professionals and institutions.
According to him, there is no trust in Liberian doctors so those capable of affording the financial cost of traveling, seek medical care outside the country, while government hires foreigners to build roads and other infrastructures with the perception that Liberian engineers are not good enough to carry on the tasks of delivery well.
He observed, “Our mechanics are not good enough, so we get foreigners to work on our vehicles. To perform an autopsy, no, our pathologists are not good enough, so we bring one from out of the country. To even audit a public institution, heck no! We hire some foreign firms to get the job done, and in a soccer match we bring in foreign coaches and foreign based players to handle the games, even our religious beliefs have been outsourced.”
He explained that the approach of abandonment to Liberian professionals in performing certain key duties is unsustainable and does not develop durable institutions. No nation, he said, can be effectively and efficiently managed by creating multiple public institutions, but yet undermine the very institutions by decisions and actions that weaken them.
Kemah said, from every indication, it does appear that Liberia has responded well in establishing institutions in response to the need for effective and efficient service delivery.
He added that apart from ministries, the National Election Commission, Civil Services Agency, and the General Auditing Commission, which are provided for in the 1986 constitution, Liberia has created over 60 additional agencies, commissions, and institutions, and at least 30 of those in the last 18 years.
“Although there may exist compelling justification for establishing new entities, due care should be taken so that the cost for responding to the service delivery needs does not outweigh the benefits,” he added.
