By Festus Poquie
A hidden audit report, completed in 2017 but kept away from the public and law enforcement authorities uncovered significant anomalies in Liberia’s financial records, including nearly $40 million suspicious transactions affecting the country’s revenue account in 2015.
The audit report, which has now come to light, identified several alarming issues, including large-scale sales of state assets, where nearly half a million dollars in generated income was kept secret.
Current Gbarpolu County Senator Amara Mohammed Konneh was Minister of Finance and Development Planning when audit discovered the missing money.
According to the audit findings, the auditors observed several reversals totaling $1,090,385.48 and L$6,966,447.17 on the Consolidated Revenue Account held at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL).
The then management of the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), CBL, and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) were unable to provide supporting documents to justify these reversals. LRA told auditors only the Ministry of Finance has exclusive access to the Liberian government account at the Central Bank.
The report also revealed that cash balances in four bank accounts totaling L$3,695,381,816.74 were not disclosed in the Government of Liberia’s Consolidated Fund Financial Statements as of June 30, 2015.
Besides, the auditors discovered that money from the sale of public assets, totaling $347,275.19, was deposited into the GSA Fleet Management Account #02/206/300117/00 at the CBL instead of the Government of Liberia’s Consolidated Fund Account. This amount was not reflected in the consolidated account as of June 30, 2015.
The then Comptroller and Accounting General, Sekou Sanoe, acknowledged the existence of the Fleet Management Account, stating that it was set up to recover some of the costs for vehicles used by government officials.
Sanoe claimed that this account is not part of the consolidated accounts, and the savings in this account are intended to be used by the government for the purchase of government fleet.
However, the Auditor General maintained that cash held in the Fleet Management Account is public money, as prescribed by the Public Finance Management Regulations of 2009, and should be properly disclosed.
The total of L$3.7 billion was missing from the account based on the oracle News Daily calculation. When covert to United States dollars using the 2016 exchange rate of 1USD to LRD97 applied in 2016, it shows a whopping $38 million United States dollars that left the country’s bank account with no explanation.
The revelations from this hidden audit report raise serious concerns about the transparency and accountability of Liberia’s financial management.
The concealment of such a significant report from the public and law enforcement authorities further exacerbates the issues and undermines public trust in the government’s financial practices.
As the government grapples with the implications of this audit report, the public and stakeholders will be closely monitoring the authorities’ response and any actions taken to address the identified discrepancies and strengthen financial oversight and control measures.
