DAVID A. YATES
Africa-Press – Liberia. The Internal Audit Agency (IAA) has announced its intention to release a public sector compliance scorecard.
The scorecard is expected to provide valuable insights into the compliance practices of government line ministries, agencies, commissions, and state-owned enterprises.
“[The] scorecard is not intended to name and shame any institution but to help promote efficiency and consolidate efforts to mitigate malpractices by righting the wrongs in the system,” IAA Director General David Kemah said at the opening of a two-day stakeholder dialogue on the release of a public sector compliance scorecard.
“We urged government ministries, agencies, commissions, and state-owned enterprises to embrace the national compliance scorecard, which is the IAA way of helping you improve compliance, mitigating risk, and minimizing waste, fraud, and abuse in the public sector,” he added.
The IAA, an independent body responsible for ensuring effective internal controls and promoting good governance practices, has long been at the forefront of efforts to strengthen accountability in the public sector.
The scorecard is expected to serve as a comprehensive assessment tool, evaluating the adherence of government entities to relevant laws, regulations, policies, and guidelines. It will also assess their compliance with best practices in areas such as financial management, procurement, human resources, and information technology.
The IAA aims to make the compliance scorecard publicly available to foster transparency and empower citizens, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to hold government entities accountable.
When the scorecard is released, it is expected to have far-reaching benefits and will enable government entities to identify areas of improvement and implement corrective measures, leading to enhanced efficiency, reduced risk of fraud and corruption, and improved service delivery.
“The release of the public sector compliance scorecard represents a major milestone in our efforts to promote good governance and strengthen public sector accountability,” Kemah said.
“By making this information accessible to the public, we are fostering a culture of transparency and encouraging government entities to prioritize compliance and best practices,” he added.
The IAA public sector compliance discussion, which started on July 12, at the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, provided a platform for stakeholders to brainstorm ways to improve close collaboration and cooperation between the IAA management and other personnel of public sector entities.
The dialogue provides a platform for stakeholders to brainstorm ways to improve close collaboration and cooperation between IAA and other personnel of public sector entities.
He added, “As leaders in public sector institutions, every day we are faced with ever-increasing demands and expectations from the public to deliver services and to change people’s lives,” Kemah told the gathering.
“The meeting is IAA’s own way of contributing to government institutions by identifying effective and efficient means to maximize the use of public resources needed to meet said demands,” he added.
The IAA is an autonomous public sector audit institution enacted into law by the National Legislature in September 2013 to replace the former Internal Audit Secretariat (IAS).
The IAA has the responsibility to establish, or where there are existing internal audit functions, take control and direct internal audit functions in all public sector entities in Liberia.
Meanwhile, Kemah used the occasion to present institutions with their scorecard sheets developed by the IAA.
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