Liberia: Tweah Threatens to Plug Gov’t Officials’ Salaries If…

The Minister of Finance, Samuel Tweah, has threatened to withhold the salaries of government officials whose agencies failed to submit monthly budget performance reports.

Speaking on Monday at a signing ceremony for an US$88 million financing agreement with the European Union, Tweah issued the warning, citing the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act of 2009 as the basis for such serious consequences. 

He gave no indication that such drastic measures would start at his own door, having himself been censured by development partners over the misappropriation of funds intended for the energy sector. 

Tweah has been under pressure from development partners and civil society groups, from the onset of the George Manneh Weah administration, to ensure compliance with the PFM law and with international standards and agreements to which the Liberian Government is a signatory. 

Addressing cabinet colleagues, he hinted at his lenient financial management policy to date. 

“The law says if a minister is not reporting on time — the Minister of Finance can hold the salary.  [But]  we [ have] not exercised that law,” he said.

“I have the responsibility as Minister of Finance to implement the PFM law,” Tweah noted. “I could be asked the question, ‘why are you not holding the salary of a person?’ What will be my response? I will say ‘Oh! that is my man.’

“We have to move on from this, that 'man' thing to serious governance because the thing has been holding us down. It is your responsibility to account for public money when you receive it. So, we are committed to making sure that public financial management governance reaches the next level,” he added. The minister also admonished spending entities to submit their reporting “on time”.

But Tweah’s remarks come about two thousand days late and tens of millions of dollars short. This is the second quarter of the last fiscal year of his nearly six-year tenure as Finance Minister.  

The Minister may also merely be seeking to allay mounting pressure from lawmakers and diplomatic partners to increase transparency and accountability. 

Puzzlingly, Tweah went so far as to cite a recent statement from the US Ambassador, Michael McCarthy, who claimed that nearly half of public entities were spending public money without submitting a budget performance report. 

This was just the latest in a string of accusations made by the US envoy, many of which the Weah Administration has forcefully rejected as untrue. Why then highlight those claims as grounds for censure of public officials? 

The Minister stops short of saying the Ambassador’s revelations were the reason behind his statement but he admits that the lack of budget performance has held the government down. 

He vowed to change the narrative by enforcing the law — and not allowing cronyism to supersede the PFM law.  

The PFM Act establishes the authorities and procedures pertaining to the management of public funds. Its attendant regulations provide further details on procedure, including for reporting.

The law requires all spending entities to submit quarterly budget performance reports with explanatory notes on the quantitative and qualitative impacts of the funds disbursed to them. 

Said reports are due within fifteen days after the end of each quarter, subject to penalties for failure to meet the deadlines.  

But Integrity Watch, a local civil society organization, claimed in a report earlier this year that spending entities have failed to strictly adhere to the Act —  citing the 2022 budget year as an example.

The lack of reports, critics claim, undermines the concept of “value for money and affordability,” as it relates to public finances, and poses huge risks to prudent fiscal management, transparency and accountability.

In an apparent admission of what may be the reason behind his drive for transparency, Tweah alluded to the results of a recent audit of the Consolidated Fund, which had initially yielded an adverse opinion. 

According to Tweah, the General Auditing Commission (GAC) had expressed concerns regarding whether the government can sustain an unqualified opinion and not move back to an adverse opinion — a challenge the auditors say can be overcome by enforcing the PFM law.

“I can report that we have improved the audit, and I know you have read the audit report for the first time,” Tweah said, addressing the EU diplomats at the financing agreement signing yesterday. 

“The audit of the consolidated account that ended the special budget year has moved from an adverse opinion to an unqualified opinion. This is the first unqualified opinion in the history of Liberia, which is a milestone,” he told reporters.

An unqualified audit opinion reflects a positive assessment of the financial statements of any entity, while an adverse audit opinion reflects a negative assessment due to significant issues or material misstatements.  

An unqualified audit opinion indicates that the financial statements of an organization are presented fairly, in all material respects, and are compliant with the applicable accounting principles or standards.

On the other hand, an adverse audit opinion indicates that the financial statements of an organization are not presented fairly, in all material respects, and are not in accordance with the applicable accounting principles or standards globally and/or within the jurisdiction in which the audited entity resides.  

Auditors issue adverse statements when they identify significant issues or material misstatements in the financial statements that have a pervasive impact on the overall fairness and reliability of the information presented.

In the case of the government’s consolidated account, Tweah noted, financial reporting has been a challenge. Consequently GAC auditors, he said, have been unable to obtain the documentation "commensurable with the volume of resources that people received.”

Absent substantial evidence as to whether the money “was stolen” or not, the auditors cannot make sense of the spending and cannot pass judgment, Tweah explained. 

He added that “not being able to pass judgment is a negative. [But] we have moved from that now, and we have gone to an adverse and unqualified opinion.”

The EU financing agreement is intended to  fund crucial political and economic activity, under the EU-Liberia Development Partnership for 2021-2027. 

Support for the upcoming elections is at the top of the agenda, according to an EU press release announcing the signing ceremony. That accounts for US$16.5 million.  

Another US$16.5 million will support sustainable forestry and conservation, while US$24 million will go towards food security programs, including aquaculture. 

The largest share — US$31 million — will invest in empowering Liberia’s youth through technical and vocational training programs. 

The United Nations system will play a lead role in managing the resources and implementing each program, together with the relevant government entities and other partners.