The General Auditing Commission (GAC) says it challenges the Friday, January 15, 2010 edition of The Analyst Newspaper to produce copy of a letter which it claimed the European Union (EU) wrote Auditor General Morlu this week allegedly expressing concern that the Commission was compromising its integrity and trust by playing up publicity controversies at the expense of the fight against corruption. The story is categorically untrue and it was intended to distract the Liberian people from the main issue of a forceful and unbending fight against corruption.  

GAC says it is regrettable that people will do disservice to the EU and the international partners that are tremendously assisting the GAC and the Government of Liberia in supporting the fight against corruption by spreading falsehood against those valuable Liberia partners in progress.

Accountability and transparency is the foundation of a truly functioning democracy. Through the tireless efforts of the Auditor General, a new day has arrived in Liberia as the GAC is now empowered and capacitated to fight corruption in a more forceful way.  

GAC maintains that the EU has always expressed compliment to the AG and GAC for the level of unwavering commitment of the GAC in the fight against corruption, fraud, waste and abuse. EU will never sway from the enormous support it is rendering the Government in the direction of the zero tolerance war on corruption. 

Accounting for how Liberian taxpayer’s resources are collected and how those resources are expended is a true test of an accountable and transparent Government. This is a worthy cause that every Liberian should join, as corruption has undermined development and diminished confidence in Government. The GAC is working the hardest to build confidence in Government and assure our international partners that indeed Liberians can be trusted and relied on because they are transparent and accountable. It is only through an independent Auditor General and GAC that international partners will have confidence to put their money in Liberia and that is why the EU accepted the President’s request to independently hire an Auditor General that will take GAC and the crusade for transparency and accountability to a new height. This is the fact, and today GAC has become an undoubtedly indispensable and pivotal frontline institution in the fight against corruption.  

It is therefore regrettable that some people will attempt to tarnish the good reputation of the EU by providing false and misleading information about its involvement in the GAC. There is a need for the so-called letter from EU to the AG to be published, because neither the Auditor General nor the GAC has received such a letter from the EU. It now seems a common practice in Liberia for people to spread false information about the AG and the GAC. It is regrettable that such an unacceptable tendency of gossips and lies is spilling over to a 27 National EU countries working hard to see Liberia recover from its debased past. GAC knows, however, that the majority of the people of Liberia appreciates and understands clearly that corruption can fight with public money, as we saw with the case of a bogus group that was used to attack the AG and the GAC.  

The media is an integral aspect in the fight against corruption. This is why the GAC would like to caution that media institutions, which are traditional allies in the fight against corruption, should not allow themselves to be used to undermine the professional work of the GAC.  

GAC’s operation is based on Chapter 53 and 59 of the Executive Law of 1972, the 1977 LIMA Declaration, 2007 Mexico Declaration and the INTOSAI standards. Everything that the AG and the GAC do is therefore based on Liberian law as well as the above noted best international standards. West African Accountants and Auditor Generals have praised the GAC as a model Supreme Audit Institution.  

In a related development, GAC has clarified that it has conducted HIPC audit, as claimed in some quarters that it has never conducted any HIPC audit thus far. GAC says the HIPC audit has stages. The first phrase, according to GAC, covered fiscal year for 2006/2007 and the last phrase covered 2007/2008. The first phase of the HIPC audits were completed submitted to the President, the National Legislature, and the international partners and published on GAC website at www.gacliberia.com. Most civil society groups and media institutions all have got copies of these completed HIPC audits.  

GAC release says the last phrase of the HIPC which covers the fiscal year ended 2007/2008 started last year with the same selected ministries and is steadily progressing. They are expected to be completed soon, assuming we have the maximum cooperation in the provision of documents and logistical support from the Government of Liberia, which has been slow in coming.  

Amongst the first set of 25 or more audits produced and published by the GAC are the HIPC audits of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Lands and Mines, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Ministry Public Works. So GAC has produced 20 non HIPC audits while conducting HIPC audits.  

In addition to the ongoing HIPC audits of the phase, GAC is also completing 32 audits. Again, GAC can produce HIPC audits while at the same time auditing other institutions. We have done it in the past. We are doing it now. We will do it in the future. GAC audited National Lottery, Housing Authority, MTA, NASSCORP, County Development Fund, Consolidated Expenditure, Consolidated Revenue, etc while producing the first round of HIPC audits.  

In the second of HIPC audits, GAC is also auditing NPA, RIA, University of Liberia, County Development Fund for 2007/2008 and 2008/2009, NOCAL, MCC, LPRC, Gutherie Rubber Plantation, etc. GAC has more than 200 trained auditors, plus support from Auditor General of Ghana and Auditor General of Zambia. GAC therefore has more than enough manpower to audit as many entities as financial are available. Just as GAC is auditing LPRC, NOCAL, NPA, RIA, MICAT, etc while conducting HIPC, it can also audit the Ministry of Gender and Development.  

It is surprising that some are saying we cannot audit Ministry of Gender and Development while auditing HIPC institutions but similar position was not taken when GAC was asked to audit Ministry of Information while at the same time auditing HIPC institutions.  

GAC will also like to inform the public that the Auditor General went the extra mile to certificate the accounts for period 2005/2006 so that the World Bank and African Development could contribute US$18 million of direct budget to the Government of Liberia. DAG Nanka and AG Morlu worked tirelessly with the Minister of Finance and the Deputy Minister of Expenditure to ensure that Liberia received the US$18 million to help in the development of Liberia. This money did not come to the GAC but went to support development in Liberia.  

The Auditor General and the GAC also played the most pivotal role in ensuring that Liberia had a PFM law that was of high quality. From September 2008 to June 2009, the GAC worked with the Ministry of Finance and the National Legislature with the support of EU, IMF and World Bank to pass a PFM law. The passage of this law also enabled the EU provide US$12 million per year for two years as direct budget support to the Government of Liberia. It is also important to inform the public that it was based on the Risk Analysis and Risk Index created by Auditor General Morlu that enabled the Liberian Government and the international partners to reach an agreement on the number and types of ministries to audit under HIPC. This is how the five HIPC ministries were selected. Had AG Morlu not developed such high level Risk Index, could the Government of Liberia afford to audit all 90 plus Government ministries and agencies? 

Today, HIPC is being reached because of the innovation of the GAC to create a Risk Index to assist the Government of Liberia and the international partners to make an informed decision on the HIPC institutions. In other countries, HIPC audits include all ministries and agencies. In Liberia, we are doing only 5 ministries because that is what the AG told the international was possible, because it was cost prohibitive and impossible for an impoverished country like Liberia to do audits of all ministries and agencies for two years in a row.  

Under HIPC, there is a requirement for one year implementation of the PFM law before we can reach HIPC. We are just finalizing the regulation and so have not started implementation of the PFM law. GAC advises Liberians to ask the Ministry of Finance for the status of each HIPC requirement and they will note that auditing is just one aspect of HIPC requirement.  

GAC understands that audit is mandatory and cannot be waived; so this is why its staff have worked Monday through Monday for the past two and half years to ensure that Liberia gets to HIPC.  

Thanks to the World Bank and EU, GAC has only 5 jeeps working plus the Auditor General vehicle to conduct audits in Monrovia and the 15 counties.  Even the Auditor General’s vehicle is being used to conduct the HIPC audits and the Government of Liberia is aware of this fact. Through GAC audits, people have become more careful in the use of public money because we are helping to limit the opportunity for officials and employees of Government to engage in fraud, waste and abuse. GAC will fight corruption through independent, professional and high quality audits.  

The Auditor General is committed to ensuring that all GAC audits meet international standards on auditing as issued by INTOSAI. It was this Auditor General Morlu who for the first time formally adopted international auditing standards in Liberia. All other GAC related work is based on 1977 LIMA, 2007 Mexico Declaration and chapters 53 and 59 of Executive Law of 1972. These are the international standards for Supreme Audit Institution. The Ministry of Gender and Development audit will be based on international standards on auditing.  

We assure the Liberian people and our international partners that any independent audit firm will reach the same conclusions and opinions that GAC has reached. This is a simple standard on auditing, that giving all the information, an independent auditor should be able to reach the same conclusion. And giving the new rigorous standards on auditing, GAC’s evidential matters are beyond reasonable and can withstand any legal scrutiny.