The Consolidated Report of the Joint Public Accounts, Expenditure & Audit Committee of the Senate has corroborated significant financial malpractices with regard to the Auditor General’s Report on several ministries, agencies and commissions of the government.
The Consolidated joint committee, in its report to Senate Plenary on Tuesday, July 8, noted that the financial malpractices rang from failure to reconcile bank transactions, non-compliance with financial reporting requirements of Liberian laws, payments to third parties, undisclosed expenditures, anomalies with bank overdrafts, and unsupported financial transactions. These were uncovered in the committee’s review of audits of 12 Ministries, Agencies and Public Corporations.
The report also observed irregularities with expenditure of funds for disaster relief, non-remittance of employees’ and withholding taxes to the Liberia Revenue Authority to name a few.
The report noted that the scrutiny was strictly guided by the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act and its regulations, the Public Procurement Act (PPCA) and its regulations, the Budget Laws, and other best practices adopted by the Government of the Republic of Liberia.
The committee told Senators that before its submission, the report was rigorously reviewed, technically scrutinized, and validated at a retreat in partnership with the Auditor General and his technical team. “This collaborative process ensured that the final recommendations represent a mutually agreed-upon and reconciled position on the audit outcomes under review,” the Amara Mohamed Konneh chair committee report noted.
The joint Committee review considered the Auditor General’s Reports on the Compliance Audit of the Liberia Water & Sewer Corporation (LWSC) for the Period ended June 30, 2021; on the Financial Statements Audit of the Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea- Rural Electrification (CLSG-RE) Project, for the Period June 30, 2021 – December 31, 2022;
AG’s Report on the Management Letter on the National Bureau of Concessions (NBC) for the Period ended 2016 – 2019.
Others include audit report on the Regulation of River Sand and Mining Activities in Liberia for the Period July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2021; the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) for the Period July 2019 – June 30, 2021; and the Compliance Audit of the Liberia Opportunities Industrialization Center (LOIC) for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2019, thru July 31, 2021;
the Audit of the Bong County Development Fund and Social Development Fund for the Period July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2021; the Auditor General’s Report on the National Road Fund (NRF) for the Period July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2020.
The Senaye review also considered the AG Report on the Financial Statements Audit of the National Fisheries & Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) for the Period July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2020; the Audit of the Liberia Road Asset Management Project (LIBRAMP) For the Peripd Ended July 1, 2021 – December 31, 2022; the Auditor General’s Report on the Financial Audit of the National Transit Authority (NTA) for the Period July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2021, and The Auditor General’s Report on the Compliance Audit of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) for the Period January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2023.
On June 26, 2025, the plenary of House of Representatives endorsed the Auditor General’s Report.
