Monrovia — An audit conducted by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) to reconcile the net account balances of the government's consolidated accounts as of January 17 and 19, 2024, has revealed discrepancies in the figures claimed by former President George Weah. Despite his assertion that he left US$40,044,305.90, the audit found that he actually left US$3,378,848.89 and US$6,918,142.97 on January 17 and 19, 2024, respectively.
Former President Weah, in his farewell message, claimed a balance of US$40,044,305.90, while President Boakai asserted a balance of US$20.5 million during his State of the Nation Address.
This prompted the Joint Committees of the Liberian Senate comprising Public Accounts Audits and Expenditure Committee (PAC) and Banking and Currency Committee to request the Auditor General to perform a Special Reconciliation Audit on the net account balances of the Consolidated Fund Accounts as at January 17 and 19, 2024.
In addition to the huge disprepancies in the amounts mentioned by both the former and current Presidents as balances in the consolidated accounts, the audit also discovered liabilities amounting to US$16,526,121.90 and US$16,526,842.58 on the same dates, indicating a net commitment left by the former administration for President Boakai to finance. These amounts were to be settled within 90-day period as at the end of the Budget Year 2023.
The audit found that the former administration left net commitments of US$9,608,699.61 for President Boakai to finance, contradicting Weah's assertion that he left US$40,044,305.90 in the national coffers.
Section 4, count 10, of the Public Finance Management Act of 2009 as Amended and Restated 2019 defines commitment as "an undertaking to make an expenditure following the conclusion of a binding agreement that will result in public outlays/payments". Also, under the cash basis of accounting, revenues and expenses are recognized at the time cash is received or paid out. Unlike accrual accounting, which recognizes income at the time the revenue is earned and records expenses when liabilities are incurred regardless of when cash is received or paid.
Further more, the GAC established that there were issuances of checks beyond the statutory six-month period totally US$9,144,138.95 and L$457,680,522.71 as of January 17, 2024, and US$11,836,676.49 and L$457,680,522.71 as of January 19, 2024. Such actions are in violation of Regulation R.6 of the PFM Act of 2009.
Regulation R.6 of the PFM Act of 2009 as Amended and Restated 2019 states, "Checks issued by the Republic of Liberia shall be valid for a period of six months from the date of issue. The Minister is authorized to have printed or stamped on government checks a legend stating that each cheque must be cashed within six months of the date of issue".
There was also no evidence that cash receipts in the transitory accounts were reconciled to bills raised by the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), the revenue sharing agreement with entities and the sweep/amounts remitted to the Consolidated Accounts; and Revenues collected in Transitory Accounts at commercial banks were not swept timely in accordance with the Regulation H.9 of the PFM Act of 2009 as Amended and Restated 2019.
Additionally, the GAC noted that on November 30, 2023, the Central Bank of Liberia financed the Government of Liberia Payroll Account with US$50.2 Million for salary payments, lacking evidence of legislative approval, which violates Article 34 d (iii) of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia and Section 46.2 of the CBL Act of 1999.
Furthermore, on December 23, 2023, the Government of Liberia acquired an additional US$32.85 Million from the CBL to cover extra salary disbursements and maintain commitments to commercial banks, again without legislative approval, contravening Article 34 d (iii) of the 1986 Constitution of Liberia and Section 46.2 of the CBL Act of 1999 as Amended and Restated 2020.
Moreover, upon reviewing the loan documents, the GAC found that the repayment schedule for the loan principal was set from 2029 to 2044, which is not in compliance with Section 46.2 of the CBL Act of 1999 as Amended and Restated 2020.
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In response, the CBL told the CBL that On December 11, 2023, the Bank received a communication from the Office of the President requesting the Bank to work with the Ministry of Finance and pay salaries of civil servants. The President request cited low revenue collection due to the impact of the electoral process and intended to prevent national security risk to the transition process. The CBL Management referred the President's request to the Board of Governors and received an approval through a resolution to work with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) and honored the President's request.
According to the CBL, its Management, in line with the Board of Governors' resolution, worked with the MFDP and the Ministry of Justice, to consummate a loan agreement due to the financial constraints cited by the President and the loan was granted. Considering the urgency expressed by the President, the MFDP is expected to seek the necessary ratifications in line with the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act.
