The Civil Society Network of Liberia (CSNL), through its Executive Director Sensee Kaidii, has described as erroneous and misleading, allegations of financial irregularities and legal violations contained in the General Auditing Commission’s (GAC) Report in the National Port Authority’s (NPA) contract with Global Maritime Tracking Systems (GMTS) for managing the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) program.
CSNL noted that in its March 2025 Audit Report covering July 1, 2018 to October 31, 2024, on the GTMS Contract with the Government of Liberia through the NPA, the GAC reported that the GTMS contract didn’t follow required procurement procedures with no payment record for US$3 million initial investment, and that the audit found no evidence that GTMS paid US$2.15 million in throughput fees over five years, including US$50,000 in 2020, US$250,000 in 2021, US$370,000 in 2022, and US$580,000 in 2023, and an additional US$900,000 in 2024 under the current Unity Party (UP) administration.
In a release issued to this publication on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, the Civil Society Network of Liberia said it sought to fundamentally establish that GTMS entered into a legal contract with the Government of Liberia in 2018, with the initial investment of US$3 million, and it was unfortunate that the GAC auditors didn’t capture this initial investment portfolio. The group stated that investment expenditure documents in its possession show that GTMS met this requirement, though it declined to provide copies of said documentation to this publication.
The CSNL’s said its investigation also established that contrary to the GAC findings that the audit found no evidence that GTMS paid US$2.15 million in throughput fees over five years, including US$900,000.00 to the current UP Government, “payment records in our possession show that the company paid all throughput fees to the National Port Authority, as legal representative of the Government of Liberia per the contract. We are left to believe that the GAC auditors didn’t do due diligence by omitting the payment of throughput fees made by GTMS directly to the Management of the NPA throughout the company’s operations.”
The Civil Society Network of Liberia wonders how GAC could recommend NPA to account for US$2,150,000.00 in throughput fees for the period from 2020 to 2024, if said amount has not been remitted by GTMS as required by the terms and conditions of the contract, stating that the silence of the NPA Management on the GAC audit findings clearly supports the fact that it received the US$2.15 million remittance from GTMS. The NPA is yet to comment on this claim.
The civil society group believes that it is also misleading for the audit findings to call for full settlement of arrears of throughput fees by GTMS to NPA when the company has adhered to the approved payment plan over the years.
“In fact, the Management of NPA performs monthly reconciliation between throughput fees as required by the contract and actual throughput fees remitted by GTMS. We have evidence, showing copies of bills, bank statements, and other relevant supporting records, regularly filed for review by the NPA. Furthermore, the CSNL’s investigation reveals that the NPA Management has operationalized a functioning Monitoring, Evaluation, and Compliance Committee that periodically ensures compliance with the CTN operations consistent with the terms and conditions of the contract,” the release noted.
The release: “The Civil Society Network of Liberia wants to make it unequivocally clear that the findings contained in the GAC Audit on GTMS contract with the NPA on the CTN Program is full of omissions of important documents, including investment expenditure incurred, payments of throughput fees by GTMS to NPA Management, and other deliverables of the company in Liberia. How could GTMS commence operations without the US$3 million initial investment? How has GMTS been allowed to operate if the company has not been remitting throughput fees? Why are the issues of initial investment and throughput fees being raised after 6 years of GTMS operations in Liberia? The CSNL sees a sinister motive behind the nature of the GAC audit findings, given the stiff competition existing between the operations of GTMS and MEDTECH in Liberia.”
The CSNL alleged that the priority being placed on the GAC Audit Report on GTMS, and not MEDTECH, shows how GTMS has been targeted by some top government officials, including legislators, for their selfish interests, indicating that it is ridiculous for the Liberian Senate to disregard the illegal and dubious operations of MEDTECH and open investigation on GTMS operations when the Government of Liberia represented by the Ministries of Justice, Finance, NPA and other relevant authorities recently renegotiated the contract with GTMS because the company has been in full compliance with the terms and conditions of the contract.
The CSNL recognizes the “laudable deliverables” of GTMS in creating an effective and efficient cargo tracking system, restoring Liberia’s maritime image, and due to the effective cargo security measures instituted by GTMS, the US Coast Guard removed Liberia from the list of countries affected with the US Port Security Advisory, which required vessels arriving in the US after visiting ports in the Republic of Liberia. The Tracking System, CSNL said, has greatly minimized the issue of missing containers and improved shipping delivery, facilitating trade in both sea and land freight cargo by providing one-stop global logistics management hub, vessel routing, value and duty assessment and port terminal handling advisers. “GTMS has truly revolutionized maritime and ports security, through the services of real time tracking, high security standards for cargoes and fast and efficient delivery of shipping services,” the civil society group said.
The Civil Society Network of Liberia urges all stakeholders to allow GTMS to operate, because the company’s continuous operations in Liberia is cardinal to maintaining the country’s increased revenue base, economic growth, safe shipping in Liberia.
“We call on the Liberian Public not to lend credence to the GAC’s Audit findings that there is no evidence that GTMS pay the initial investment fees and remitted throughput fees in the last 6 years. Such findings are unfounded and lack merit. As President Boakai fights to meet his ARREST Agenda, GTMS serves as a major contributor to raising domestic resources for implementation of the agenda. Hence, we commend the Government of Liberia, led by His Excellency Joseph Boakai for extending the GTMS Contract with the Government of Liberia through the National Port Authority,” CSNL Executive Director Kaidii concluded.
