New Search for Auditor General

New Democrat (Monrovia)

27 April 2011

The Director of the Civil Service Agency (CSA), Dr. C. William Allen, says the Jafain Consortium mentioned in the hiring of the new Auditor General are no more than mail collectors for the (CSA).

Reacting to reports that the group is made up of some key actors in the former financial system internationally criticized for mismanagement during the Charles Taylor years, Dr. Allen insisted that the group is one of integrity and character that international groups have hired.

He told this paper in an interview Tuesday that, “just to be clear, it is the Civil Service Agency that is driving this process, and we intend to make it a very transparent process,” adding, “and we intend to involve others, of course, such as the Liberia Institute of Certified Public Accountants. We intend to involve some of our donor partners; we intend to involve people from the NGO community and professionals…”

He also denied appointing Jafain as a recruiting agent.

“Jafain has not been recruited by the Government to drive this process. The Civil Service Agency felt that we needed to have a confidential, neutral and objective process from the beginning. So this is why we contracted this firm, which, in my opinion, has quite a good reputation.”

Jafain Consortium is run by Ms. Wanita Neal, deputy minister of Finance for Revenue in the Taylor Government; Mr. Charles Collins, deputy finance minister for Administration during the same period; and Mr. Charles Greene, governor of the National Bank in the Gyude Bryant interim administration.

Meanwhile, the environmental rights group, Global Witness says it is ‘disappointed’ over the President’s decision not to re-nominate Mr. John Morlu.

In a letter to the President, it said: “The GAC represents an indispensible mechanism for achieving accountability within the Liberian Government. This is nowhere more true than it is for the ministries responsible for regulating the country’s natural resources, several of which continue to operate in a non-transparent manner. The GAC’s 2010 audit of the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy provided information not available elsewhere, highlighting how the ministry was unable to account for millions of dollars of expenditures and how the ministry had only limited control over the country’s diamond industry.

Global Witness is also concerned by possible irregularities in other sectors such as forestry and agriculture. As such, preserving the independence and integrity of the GAC is important to safeguard its key oversight role.

“We are worried that the decision not to re-nominate Mr. Morlu may signify another setback in the Liberian Government’s efforts to combat corruption. Rather than acting to address issues of corruption and financial mismanagement revealed by GAC audits, individuals within the government have too often attacked the Commission and its Auditor General. The government has also been slow to adopt recommendations made by the GAC.

“If Liberia is to break from a history of financial and accounting irregularities, it is essential that the government maintains a strong and independent GAC, and that the government adopts the Commission’s recommendations. When Mr. Morlu departs, Global Witness urges you to replace him with an individual who can help the Liberian government achieve this end. We hope that you will appoint in his place a candidate who is not politically linked, has no vested interests, has a record of integrity and is both experienced and well-qualified.”

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