The Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL) has urged the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) to investigate audit findings by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) on the government’s consolidated accounts. Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, CENTAL Executive Director Anderson Miamen said GAC published findings of its audit of the Government of Liberia Consolidated Funds Account Financial Statement for the period January 1 to December 31, 2024.
He noted that according to Section 4 of the amended Public Financial Management Act of 2019, the consolidated fund account is where all government revenues from taxes, fees, fines, and other sources are deposited and disbursed based on budgetary appropriations.
Miamen said the audit revealed several inadequacies in systems for revenue collection, disbursement without supporting documents, and the inability to disburse funds as allotted in the national budget to institutions and sectors providing critical public services, such as health and education.
He indicated that some specific findings of the report suggested that the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) did not expand its revenue reporting software (ASYCUDA and LITAS) to rural collectorates, which would ensure greater transparency of tax system and reduce the likelihood of corruption.
Miamen stated that there is a gap in efficient revenue generation, which is compounded by the lack of adequate personnel deployed by LRA at rural tax collection centers, a finding validated during one of their engagements with stakeholders in Gbarnga, Bong County.
“That over US$2.8 million was disbursed by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), exceeding what was approved through the national budget. We see this revelation by the audit as very concerning, especially so that this administration has been previously accused of disregarding the budget and the Public Financial Management (PFM) Laws by spending off-budget with zero approval from the national legislature,” he said.
Miamen explained that there is an under disbursement of approved appropriations in the national budget in the tone of US$78,289,600, which affected a total of 106 ministries and agencies and eleven State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) assessed to have paid US$ 10,160,233.98 as income tax, but made a payment of US$5,669,672.88 far less than what was required to be paid, thus leading to substantial revenue loss.
He noted that these observations leave one to wonder whether the government’s desire to increase resource mobilization is commensurate with commitments from its agents. Miamen encourages LACC to review key findings of the audit, especially those that reference violations of the Public Financial Management Law (PFM), including allegations of off-budget spending.
