GAC asked to audit CSA 

The audit requested will scrutinize the Civil Service Agency’s governance and fiscal operations from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2023.

By Kruah Thompson 

Monrovia, March 27, 2024: Liberia’s Civil Service Agency (CSA) Director General Josiah F. Joekai has officially requested the General Auditing Commission (GAC) to conduct a comprehensive forensic system and financial audit of the CSA.

This audit will scrutinize the CSA’s governance and fiscal operations, covering government funding and donor support from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2023. 

The audit is expected to be part of scheduled audits beginning July 2024 and will be covered within the GAC’s budget.

The CSA Director General disclosed the plan at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs, and Tourism (MICAT) regular briefing on Tuesday, March 21, 2024.

Mr. Joekai highlighted ongoing efforts to enhance payroll management procedures at the CSA.

According to him, they are closely collaborating with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning to finalize the payroll automation process. 

He said this initiative involves transitioning their payroll system from the highly manipulated Alternative Temporary Automated Pay System (ATAPS) to a more efficient and modern Civil Service Management system.

Furthermore, the Director General emphasized that this transition marks a significant 100-day deliverable milestone for President Joseph Nyumah Boakai’s administration.

He said it aims at streamlining its payroll management procedures to greatly minimize human intervention and reduce instances of waste and abuse of public finance.

Moreover, he revealed that while transitioning to the new system, they aim to keep the ATAPS version of the payroll accessible during the upcoming essential payroll compliance audit and the CSA system and financial audit.

Mr. Joekai believes this will ensure that all payroll-related discrepancies are appropriately captured during the audits.

He further revealed that as an integral part of CSA’s ongoing reform efforts, they have meticulously drafted comprehensive policy guidelines to transform the selection, employment, and management of consultants and consulting firms across the government. 

According to him, this policy, when completed in about two weeks, will be officially launched by President Boakai, marking a significant departure from the immediate past corrupt consultancy practices.

In his address, he also outlined that the previous administration’s expenditure on consultancy services only for the last fiscal year amounted to a staggering US$6.1 million. 

In a stark contrast, he said, the CSA has proposed a consultancy budget allocation of US$2,000,000 for the upcoming fiscal period, reflecting an impressive savings of US$4.1 million.

“This fiscal prudence, coupled with implementing the brand-new consultancy policy guidelines, promises to yield substantial dividends for the government,” he said.

“With this austerity measure, the government can now redirect the 4.1 million savings to other basic services, including education, agriculture, health care, and sanitation, consistent with the ARREST Agenda,” he said.

However, Mr. Joekai revealed that with immediate effect, the Civil Service Agency has blocked the salaries and subsequently removed from the payroll all individuals employed as of December 18, 2023.

He said the employment violated former President George Manneh Weah’s directive to suspend all new employment and service contracts across government institutions.

Mr. Joekai vowed to work with all spending entities concerned to reverse all promotions and salary increments during the period of the presidential directive.

Regarding the personnel headcounts conducted at the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs, Liberia National Police, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he revealed that the CSA has also blocked on their payrolls with immediate effect, employees not accounted for, pending the conclusion of the verification exercises.

Also, he said the CSA has realized that several individuals were placed on the payroll through emails, matrices, and phone calls, whose personnel action notices (PAN) have not been completed in keeping with Chapter 3, Section 4.4 of the Civil Service Standing Orders of 2012. 

But he said they have been receiving pay. Joekai noted that the CSA is thoroughly reviewing the payroll. With these strategic reform measures in place for the immediate term, he expressed confidence that the government will achieve significant cost savings.

He believes that the government will optimize the value derived from sanitizing the payroll and consultancy engagements, ultimately ensuring that taxpayers’ money is utilized judiciously and effectively. 

Meanwhile, he said the CSA remains steadfast in its commitment to these immediate reform processes to foster a more accountable, efficient, and productive civil service for all Liberians.