GRAND BASSA — Liberia's Accountant General and Comptroller at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Elwood T. Nettey, has urged journalists to strengthen their understanding of public financial management and closely monitor how taxpayers' money is spent.
Nettey said journalists, like other Liberians, are taxpayers and therefore have a responsibility to scrutinize public spending and hold government institutions accountable for the use of state resources.
"Put your mouth where your money is," Nettey said, urging journalists to follow public funds from appropriation to expenditure and determine whether they are being used for their intended purposes.
He said the central objective of public financial management is to ensure fiscal discipline and the proper use of public resources.
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"You spend the money where it should be spent. The media's role is to ensure the money goes where it's supposed to go," he said.
Nettey called for continuous financial literacy training for journalists, particularly in budgeting, procurement, financial reporting and contract management.
According to him, a basic understanding of these areas would better equip journalists to scrutinize financial documents, track government expenditures and monitor officials and institutions responsible for implementing publicly funded programs.
"If they have the basic understanding of these things, they will follow the money. And they will follow the documentation and those that are implementing for the public," he said.
Nettey also challenged journalists to investigate whether projects announced and funded by the government are actually implemented.
"We said we have built 10 clinics this month, or this budget year. Where are those clinics? Somebody has to answer where the resources that were originally appropriated, allotted for those clinics went," he said.
He said journalists should track government-funded projects from the awarding of contracts through implementation and completion, rather than relying solely on official announcements.
Nettey said closer media scrutiny is particularly important for projects involving hospitals, schools and other public infrastructure where government spending directly affects citizens.
He maintained that strengthening journalists' knowledge of public financial management would improve their ability to follow taxpayers' money and hold public officials accountable for how government resources are spent.
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