Ministers, agencies face audits

Several ministries and agencies, including a commission are to face audit to give accounts of money in trusted in their care for various projects for which they had self disbursing authorities.

President Ellen Johnson -Sirleaf in a statement released Thursday September 10, urged the General Auditing Commission or GAC to consider private auditing firms to conduct urgent audits into the activities of these ministries and agencies under her direct supervision.

The order follows an ongoing investigation and audit of the Japanese fund at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which has seen one deputy minister dismissed and two other officials at the same ministry suspended. The ministries to be investigated are the President’s host ministry, the Ministry of State headed by Dr. Edward McClain, brother of the recently retired NOCAL president for the renovation of the Executive Mansion, for which millions have been spent but it still stands derelict.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs headed by Mr. Morris Dukuly for its handling of the Disaster Management Fund: the Ministry of Justice’s Peace Building Fund: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which is already being investigated for the Japanese Grant, but for this time Minister Augustine Ngafuan and his team will be giving account about the Foreign Service Institute: Dr. Frederick Nokeh and his team will also be asked to account for the Post Office Project at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and the National Investment Commission to account for the Industrial Free Zone.

The president argues that the audits of these ministries and agencies would facilitate early completion of the reports which is extremely important to government. She said though it may require financing not accommodated by the GAC budget, financing must be identified as this is necessary to protect the credibility and credit worthiness of the country. -Edited by Othello B. Garblah