Monrovia – The General Auditing Commission has been rated the most independent Supreme Audit Institution in West Africa by the World Bank. According to a report launched recently at a local hotel in Monrovia which reviewed the independence of the GAC and how it affects the effectiveness of external audit function in Liberia.
The Report used benchmarking exercise against international standards and practices to determine the extent of independence of the GAC. The World Bank’s Supreme Audit Institution Independence Index was launched in 2021.
According to a video presentation during the launch by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), Director for International Affairs on behalf of the Auditor General of the United States. The GAO is the United States Federal Government equivalent of the GAC. He intimated that the idea of the Supreme Audit Institutions Independence Index was borne out of a visit by the late former Auditor General of Liberia, Madam Yusador Gaye to the Auditor General of the United States in 2018, during which time she informed the US Auditor General about the threat to the independence of the Office of the Auditor General of Liberia. As a result of the Liberian Auditor General’s discussion with the US Auditor General, the US Auditor General discussed the situation with the International Organizations of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAIs) and thereafter, the body established the Supreme Audit Institutions Independence Index to track the independence of Supreme Audit Institutions around the world. INTOSAI is a United Nations affiliated body that sets auditing standards for all UN member countries Governments auditing offices.
Based on the World Bank assessment of the GAC, the GAC’s independence index score is 8.0, making the GAC the most independent Supreme Audit Institution in West Africa. Liberia surpassed Ghana which was the most independent Supreme Audit institution in West Africa until the most recent scoring. Ghana dropped to 6.5 because it controversially removed its Auditor General and it does not competitively recruit its Auditor General.
The Report has ten key areas for independence assessments: constitution and legal framework- the Auditor General is competitively recruited with a fixed tenure of seven years and can only be removed for cause, the Auditor General reports to the National Legislature and the GAC is a separate employer and is not part of the civil Service of Liberia; transparency in the process of appointing the SAI head; types of audit; operational autonomy; staffing autonomy; audit mandate; audit scope autonomy; access to records and information and rights and obligations on audit report.
The GAC worst score was financial autonomy, the commission scored zero. Primarily because the National Legislature has not operationalized the GAC’s financial independence since the passage of the GAC Act in 2014. According to Section 3.4 of the Act, the GAC shall submit its budget to the National Legislature for approval and a copy to the Minister of Finance and Development Planning for information only.
After the passage of the overall national budget and signing of the budget into law by the President of Liberia, the GAC should receive its allotment in two trenches, half of its budget within the first week of the first half of the fiscal year, and the second trench within the first week of the second half of the fiscal year. The GAC’s management has submitted its budget to the Joint Public Accounts, Audits and Expenditure Committee as per the Act but the National Legislature has never approved GAC’s budget for inclusion in the National Budget. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning has consistently set budget ceilings for the GAC in violation of the Act. During a remark at the launch of the Ghana National Audit Office Independence Index on June 18, 2024, in Accra, Ghana, the Auditor General of Liberia, Mr. P. Garswa Jackson expressed exuberance over GAC’s achievements and thanked the World Bank for the recognition. He however, indicated that the GAC will continue to strive for excellence and will continue to engage all stakeholders including the Government of Liberia and the international partners for the GAC to achieve its financial autonomy(independence) as per the GAC Act of 2014.
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