Monrovia – Stakeholders’ relationship is “a major component of the General Auditing Commission’s technical professional services delivery” for Liberia, says Auditor General Yusador Saadatu Gaye.
Madam Gaye added that the “quest for more stakeholders’ engagement is imperative” due to several factors involving the work of the GAC.
“For example, certain institutional goals cannot be met, deliverable cannot be achieved successfully, and status cannot be attained without actively and persistently working with the actors that contribute to the growth and national development process of our country,” she said during a press conference recently held at the Commission’s office in Monrovia.
She also outlined to journalists the impact of series of stakeholders’ engagements the commission had with major actors including civil society originations, anti-graft institutions and the media.
She then emphasized the important role the media can play in communicating the work of the GAC, adding that such need gave birth to the conduct of the stakeholders’ consultative meetings and workshops held over the last couple of months.
“You must be able to communicate with people if you are going to do a piece of work,” she said.
“This is why communication is the bridge for these things we are doing. This is why we took time off over the past two years so people can understand what we do here and for you [the media] to appreciate it.”
These consultations focused on communicating and educating stakeholders about the GAC challenges and successes.
Madam Gaye disclosed that the Commission will now focus on “enhancing the GAC stakeholders’ relationship and will initiate an outreach plan” that will bring to life a wide range of recommendations by stakeholders.
Building stakeholders’ relationship is one of the five domains in the AFROSAI-E institutional capacity building framework, which helps strengthen the commission’s link with the public.
AFROSAI-E is a member-based institution with 26 Auditors-General from English-speaking African countries. Established in 2005, the body has a vision to make a difference in the performance of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of member countries.
Aiming For Level Three
Meanwhile, Madam Gaye has disclosed that the GAC is opting to move to the fourth level of the continental auditing organization (AFROSAI-E) which evaluates and assess the work of auditing commissions and place them in category.
John Greaves, Director of Administration of the GAC, revealed that the Commission is close to reaching level three – the minimum on the AFROSAI-E framework.
But he said the GAC must first meet all five domains at level three.
“So, if we do good audit work, we have good systems in place, the legal framework is there from the House [of Representatives], but we do not have the kind of relations we need with the media and other organizations and other stakeholders, we will never reach that level,” Greaves stressed.
Currently, the GAC is at level 2.9, according to Mr. Greaves. And sustaining or improving at a level within the continental body evinces the progress and status of a specific national auditing agency as compare to other members.
Financial Challenge
On the other hand, AG Gaye stressed the importance of the Commission being financially independent and should not rely on “our auditees to do its work”.
“When we say independence, we are talking about the way how we do our jobs … financially; we shouldn’t be able to dependent on our auditees to be able to do our work here,” she added, but didn’t further explained.
The independence of auditing commission is a standard set by the AFROSAI-E and a United Nations’ resolution, which call for audits to be done unfettered, Madam Gaye said.
“We look at our organization and the code of ethics that we have to monitor those [doing audits] to be able to be above the frail… we must be able to focus on our staff so they can be competent, so they can do the work of Liberian people.”
AG Gaye said the Commission is “operationally okay” but faces financial problems “maybe because our basket [national budget] is not enough and we are not getting that money and that’s a challenge”.