The NEWS (Monrovia)
1 December 2008
editorial
There have been mixed reactions towards reports of official audit findings involving several institutions.
Some are of the view that the President of Liberia must first act upon the audit findings before they are reported in the press.
Such individuals think that the leaks of the audit findings in the press must therefore be condemned.
But, are others who wholeheartedly welcomed the press reports of the audit findings and are of the view that the President has been slow in acting on the findings.
On the other hand, some individuals and institutions directly implicated in some of the audit findings for inadequate financial probity have been engaging in Public Relations stunts in vain attempts to trash audit findings.
Notwithstanding, one institution implicated in an audit findings of wrongdoing and has reportedly come out boldly in admittance is the Salala Rubber Corporation.
According to the General Auditing Commission, audits on the revenues of the Liberian government have revealed that the Salala Rubber Corporation has evaded taxes amounting to over US$220,000.
According to the report, the management of rubber company has fully concurred that it should pay and abide by the law.
By contrast, in another development, the management of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company had argued that the collection of US$8.4 million in revenue arrears as oil taxes was the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance and not the refinery.
Although the assertion is true, but an audit report has now shown that the US$8.4 million tax arrears is due to requests by management of the refinery to delay enforcement of payment.
The refinery is one hand saying 'we do not collect taxes for government' but at the same time advising that, 'government don't collect your taxes now.'
So far, these audit findings have shown the lack of financial probity in many institutions wherein expenditures are made without proper documentation, as such, reconciling the expenditures become impossible.
The best reaction to these audit findings is for leaders to take responsibility, and not to shy away from the pitfalls of institutional actions. The need for financial probity is glaring in almost all of the audit reports we have seen so far.
And whether the President of Liberia acts upon them or not, it is in the public interest to know what the audit findings are.
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