By Calvin Quays|Contributor
The Auditor General of the General Auditing Commission (GAC) has stressed that the lack of transparency and accountability undermined the fight against COVID-19in Liberia.
According to Madam Yusador S. Gaye, transparency and accountability is the bedrock of democratic governance and lack of it has the potential of breading public distrust in the use of resources in the fight against reducing the virus curve in the country.
Madam Gaye made the statement Thursday at the Edward Wilmot Blyden Forum organized by the Press Union of Liberia(PUL) held under theme “ Dissecting Liberia’s Measures in the Fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic –how Transparency and accountability can play a role in defeating the virus held at the Icampus on Carey Street in Monrovia.
“When you lose the trust of the public in the utilization of public funds as a result of the lack of accountability and transparency in the fight against the virus, there is no guarantee that the public will do or believe the messaging from the health authorities” she added.
She explained that therefore, as we combat this pandemic, those at the helm of implementing policy based financial measures of the government should be seen as transparent and accountable to the public at all times.
Madam Gaye pinpointed that those authorities of the fight should go the extra lengths to act with integrity and be open to the public.
According to her, to instill public confidence in the measures being implemented to fight the virus, expenditure of public resources, contracts or agreements entered into by the government should be guided entirely by the Public Financial Management law, the Public Procurement and Concession Act of 2005 as amended and restated in 2010 and other relevant financial laws.
She asserted that accounting systems and internal control procedures should be instituted by those in charge of the governance of resources targeted to fight the virus.
Madam Gaye emphasized that Liberia cannot afford consequence of a decline or non-adherence to accountability of resources provided by our international partners in the fight against the virus, noting that financial data, expenditure reports, contracts or agreements should be made public in the interest of accountability and transparency.
She revealed that GAC through her office has made several recommendations to the central government through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), the Executive Committee on Coronavirus (ECOC) and the National Public Health Institute Of Liberia (NPHIL) to ensure effective accountability and transparency of COVID-19 funds.
She pointed out that a centralized financial management and control system will serve as a mitigating factor against the multiple self-accounting units with weak control environment that would be responsible for the disbursement of funds.
