Dear Madam Chairman;
I extend its greetings to all citizens and reaffirms its commitment to the continued progress and development of our beloved country. In light of recent claims by Political parties for the fight of corruption asking for audit of government owned state enterprises. We are therefore asking that all political parties must have full accountability and the respect of the rules of law as we are a government in waiting.
We are, therefore, reminding the National Elections Commission to kindly enforce the political parties regulations of the campaign funds and expenditure records and conduct an Audit on the 2023 National Elections as per 2011 campaign finance regulation.
Campaign Finance Regulations for Political Parties and candidates of 2011, as the National Elections laws of Liberia.
SECTION 3. DESIGNATION OF TREASURER AND CAMPAIGN BANK ACCOUNT FOR POLITICAL PARTIES AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES (1) Every political party and every presidential candidate shall designate a campaign treasurer. (2) A candidate may act as his or her own campaign treasurer. (3) Each political party and Presidential candidate shall: (a) open an account at a depositary bank to receive, hold and disburse only the party’s or candidate’s campaign funds; and (b) report to the Commission the name and address of the campaign treasurer, the name and address of the depositary bank and the number of the account as specified in Form 1. (4) The information referred to in paragraphs (1) and (3)(b) shall be submitted by candidates together with their nomination documents for an election and by parties no later than August 1, 2011. (5) No political party or Presidential candidate shall receive any contribution or make any expense when there is a vacancy in the position of treasurer. In the event a treasurer is terminated, dies or retires, the party or candidate shall notify the Commission within 72 hours of the event and name the replacement. (6) Candidates for Senate and the House of Representatives are jointly responsible with their campaign treasurer (if they have one) for recording and reporting on their campaign finances as required by this Regulation.
SECTION 4. PROHIBITION AGAINST CANDIDATES USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR PERSONAL EXPENSES (1) A candidate may not utilize funds contributed to her or his campaign for personal expenses. (2) For the purpose of this section, “personal expenses” means any expense that the candidate would have incurred irrespective of his or her candidacy, such as payments for personal clothing, rent, mortgage, utilities, vacations, personal expenses of family members, and other expenses that are not related to campaigning for office. PART II, ACCOUNTING FOR CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENSES SECTION 5. ACCOUNTING OF CONTRIBUTIONS (1) Every contribution received by or on behalf of a political party or a candidate for a campaign
PART III, POST ELECTION AUDIT
SECTION 17. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
(1) The Commission shall establish an Audit Committee which within sixty (60) days of an election may
complete a certified audit of the book of accounts of any political party or candidate.
(2) The Commission shall have the power to retain an independent auditing agency to conduct certified
audits of the financial transactions of a candidate or political party. A person or organization appointed
by the Commission to the Audit Committee or commissioned by the Commission to conduct certified
audits shall not be a member of any political party, an appointed accountant or employee of any party,
or have been or served in such a capacity during the three years prior to appointment.
(3) Upon recommendation from the Audit Committee that no Liberian auditors that meet the criteria of
Section 17 (2) can be located, the Commission may appoint auditors from outside the Republic of
Liberia.
(4) A campaign treasurer and candidate shall cooperate fully with representatives of the Audit
Committee and shall provide auditors commissioned or appointed by the Commission with full and
undisturbed access to records.
Honorable Chairman, the Liberian People remain thankful to the National Elections Commission as we jointly collaborate in the collective national effort to promote participatory democracy for sustainable peace and development in 21th Century Liberia.
With Unity and honesty for peace and progress, I remain.
Most respectfully yours,
Major T. Samukai Jr
