MONROVIA – When the George Weah-led government embarked on the controversial salary harmonization, they somehow, in the midst of disenchantment, succeeded in convincing the public that the intended outcome was to ensure equity in the payroll by ensuring that government employees are paid by their employment grade. However, the General Auditing Commission (GAC) has discovered that this goal has not been achieved and that the government still maintains an unfair salary structure.
By Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
The process, according to the government, was also intended to reduce the wage bill and restore donor confidence.
Despite these goals, the GAC in Compliance Audit of the Civil Servants National Payroll for the fiscal years January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2022 concluded that the National Civil Servants Payroll dataset on the Alternative Temporary Automated Payroll Systems (ATAPS) is not in compliance, in all material respect, with stated laws and regulations for the period January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2021.
Audit Objectives
The audit report released on January 27, 2023, which contained exhibits and annexures referencing the findings had three main objectives:
Establish the Completeness and Accuracy of Payroll Data in ATAPS (Alternative Temporary Automated Payroll Systems) – The Government of Liberia and the World Bank concluded that before the migration of payroll data from ATAPS to CSM (Civil Service Management), a comprehensive (100%) headcounts verification of all Government’s employees must be performed.
Establish the Adequacy of Controls in ATAPS – The GAC conducted a comprehensive review of the controls infrastructure in ATAPS and examined the adequacy of controls in the system.
Establish the Seamless Migration of Payroll Data from ATAPS to CSM -The GAC analyzed the framework that has been established for migration activities to provide reasonable assurance.
Audit Findings
During the audit, the GAC observed that the total number of employees of the Government of Liberia recorded in the ATAPS database totaled 67,299 (sixty-seven thousand two hundred ninety-nine) from across 103 entities. However, the outcome of the physical verification revealed that a total of 9,287 (nine thousand two hundred Eighty-seven) representing 13.8% of employees did not turn out for the head count exercise and therefore were not physically verified. However, the GAC noted that 13 Government entities provided excuses for a total of 81 (Eighty-one) employees from 13 (thirteen) entities who did not turnout for the physical verification or headcount exercise due to various reasons.
Also, the GAC observed that 10,441 (ten thousand four hundred forty-one) individuals who were not recorded in ATAPS database (Government payroll database) turned out during the headcount exercise claiming to be employees of the Government of Liberia. As evidence of their employment, they presented identification cards, letters of assignments,etc.
The pay-grade harmonization initiative of the Government was not comprehensively implemented across all entities. This resulted into employees earning below and/or above the established pay-grades while there were no pay-grade established for other employees, the report asserted.
The GAC noted that 3,970 employees representing 5.9% of government employees across 80 ministries and agencies were earning above the harmonized pay-grade expected salaries with a total monthly difference of US$581,439.15 in excess of expected salaries. An FPA analysis of the finding shows that about US$ 7 million was paid yearly above what the employees should have earned.
Further, a total of 32,759 employees representing 48.7% of civil servants in government across 90 entities of government were earning below the harmonized pay-grade expected salaries with a total monthly difference of US$5,710,026.97.
Also, the report revealed that a total of 25,162 employees representing 37.4% of civil servants in government across 97 ministries and agencies did not have pay grades.
The audit report noted that 166 persons who turned out for verification from 17 ministries and agencies were suspected of impersonating to be bonafide government employees.
Also, 1,879 representing 2.8% of employees from across 69 entities claimed to have academic qualifications which they could not provide evidence of during the physical verification.
The GAC further observed that of the total of 67,299 (sixty-seven thousand two hundred ninety-nine) employees’ records on ATAPS, 66,691 (sixty-six thousand six hundred ninety-one) records constituting 99.1% of the payroll data from across 66 entities was found to contain exceptions/irregularities.
Similarly, only 608 (six hundred and eight) employees’ records on ATAPS from across 36 entities, constituting 0.9% of the total records were found to be free of irregularities/exceptions, the report said
The GAC indicated that 42 (Forty-two) schools were identified to be understaffed, specifically in Sinoe County. Forty-two schools were observed to have only one teacher each.
The Government of Liberia did not reconcile its payrolls periodically. There was no evidence of a reconciliation report of the government payrolls on a periodic basis, according to the report.
The GAC observed irregular payroll transactions on the payroll of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for the months of July to December 2021 for an employee who banks at GN Bank. Net salaries for the six months, July to December 2021 were arbitrarily increased by US$300 each month totaling US$1,800.00, and also arbitrarily increased by LR$10,000.00 for five months,
Further, the GAC selected a sample of 10 entities’ disbursement of July 2022 payroll as a review of the subsequent event to establish that exceptions observed in December 2021 were not isolated but continuous. The GAC observed irregular payroll transactions on the payrolls of some ministries and agencies which included arbitrary increments of net salaries and arbitrary inclusion of names on bank advices that were not on the payrolls of these entities for the period December 2021, totaling LR$50,000.00.
The report indicated that mobile money payments were made to several individuals whose names on the GSM registered mobile numbers were different from the names on the payroll.
Similarly, the GAC observed that the total data of 903 employees, from 55 entities had duplicate National Identification Numbers (NINs). These employees’ NINs appeared on the ATAPS systems twice and/or two persons had the same numbers.
The GAC observed that data analysis showed that there were 1,000 (one thousand) employees on the ATAPS database whose ages had exceeded the maximum age of sixty-five (65) years from 21 (twenty-one) entities of government. The ages range from 66 to 92 years
Also, 48,648 (forty-eight thousand six hundred forty-eight) employees from across 99 ministries and agencies did not have Social Security Numbers (SSNs)
The audit report revealed that 122 (one hundred twenty-two) employees on ATAPS from across 20 ministries and agencies had shared bank accounts.
