Liberia: COVID-19 IMS Remits Over $500K to Government’s Consolidated Account in FY2024, GAC Audit Reveals

Monrovia – A 2023 financial audit by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) has revealed that the Incident Management System (IMS) overseeing Liberia’s COVID-19 response remitted US$507,856.02 to the Government of Liberia’s Consolidated Account during Fiscal Year 2024. The funds, which were generated from passenger testing fees, represent a significant contribution to the government’s coffers.

The audit, which covered fiscal years 2020/2021, the special fiscal year 2021 (July 1-December 31, 2021), as well as fiscal years 2022 and 2023, concluded that the IMS’s financial statements fairly represented, in all material respects, receipts and payments as of December 31, 2023.

The audit also reviewed the IMS’s comparison of budgeted and actual amounts, as well as its accounting policies and other relevant information, in accordance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS 2017) cash-basis accounting.

In line with Section 34 of the Public Financial Management Act (2009), as amended and restated in 2019, all un-allotted appropriations and uncommitted allotments lapse at the end of the fiscal year.

Additionally, appropriations that are committed but not disbursed by the fiscal year’s end must be moved to the government’s Consolidated Account after 90 days. The recording, accounting, and reporting of these undisbursed funds must align with the provisions of Sections 47, 48, and 49 of the Act.

The GAC conducted five separate audits of the IMS, including four financial statement audits and one performance audit. These audits marked a notable improvement in the IMS’s financial management of public funds. The GAC issued the following opinions for the four financial audits: FY 2020/2021: Qualified Opinion, Special FY 2021: Qualified Opinion, FY 2022: Unqualified Opinion and FY 2023: Unqualified Opinion.

In audit terms, a qualified opinion is given when the auditor identifies misstatements in financial statements that, while significant, are not pervasive. This means the financial statements remain reliable despite the issues.

The qualified opinions for FY 2020/2021 and Special FY 2021 reflect such findings. Conversely, an unqualified opinion, which was issued for FY 2022 and FY 2023, indicates that the financial statements fairly represent the IMS’s financial position and results, with no material concerns.

The GAC report highlighted that general standards were adhered to throughout the auditing process. The improvement in financial management by the IMS, particularly as demonstrated in the unqualified opinions for the most recent fiscal years, serves as a commendable example for future outbreak response management.