Africa-Press – Liberia. Senator Amara Konneh, Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee of the Liberian Senate, has refuted allegations that the Auditor General’s findings from the compliance audit of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), covering January 2018 to December 2023, involved his tenure as Minister of Finance and Development Planning.
“Those who oppose our work for no legitimate reason have spread and misinterpreted a snippet of the auditor’s report, suggesting that money was illegally withdrawn from the CBL during my tenure,” Senator Konneh said.
The General Auditing Commission (GAC) reported that the General Reserve Account has been running a negative balance of L$18 billion since January 2018. Additionally, three entries, totaling US$110.8 million, were retroactively posted to the General Reserve Account on November 18, 2021, although they should have been included in the December 2020 Financial Reports, according to the CBL’s standard operating procedures.
The Gbarpolu County Senator clarified that these observations indicate that the CBL did not provide supporting documents to explain the timing of these postings in the CBL accounting system. Citing pages 37-38 of the report, he noted that the CBL Management responded by stating these postings were reclassifications based on “findings and recommendations from a previous external audit.” However, the Auditor General found this explanation unconvincing.
The former Minister of Finance explained that the transactions are related to CBL’s internal accounting practices, which reflect non-compliance with established policies rather than malfeasance. “Proving criminal action or intent would require an investigation, which I believe must be conducted,” Konneh stated.
Senator Konneh shared a timeline of the budget support received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide context. He explained that the audit findings suggest the CBL made an error in accounting for the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) loan for budget support.
“First, the General Reserve Account is the result of cumulative income and loss (retained earnings) over the period under review. The ECF loans for budget support should not have been included in this account but in the Consolidated Account, as they are merely pass-through transactions. This means the net effect of the loans on CBL books should be zero,” he said.
He added, “The external auditors of CBL caught this error and asked that a prior period adjustment be made to correct it. However, CBL could not make this adjustment in a timely manner, because, according to the management response, there was a delay in the start of the 2020 audit.”
Senator Konneh highlighted that the IMF’s budget support facilitated significant economic recovery and stability, especially during the Ebola Crisis. He urged those scrutinizing these transactions to base their evaluations on facts and avoid misrepresentations.
“The allegations linking the CBL’s internal compliance issues to my period of service as Finance Minister are an attempt to slow down the substantial reformist work I am doing with colleagues in the Liberian Senate and with the Joint Public Accounts Committee. But we will not be stopped or intimidated. Our work continues unabated, with determination and integrity, to ensure financial accountability and transparency of public resources intended solely to restore good governance,” he asserted.
Senator Konneh announced that the Joint Public Accounts Committee would resume its public hearings on the audits on Monday, August 5th, at 11 am, in the Joint Chambers of the Legislature.
“The Liberian people deserve clarity and truth. We encourage all interested parties to review the audit report in full to understand the context of its findings. We hope the media and the public will join us in building and enforcing a robust public financial management framework for Liberia,” he concluded.
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