Liberia: “We Will Improve Efficiency, Increase Transparency in Gov't”

The Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency has said the IAA remains an important part of Liberia's financial management system and, as such, the entity will be looking at how to improve efficiency and increase transparency in the government, so as to ensure that the reporting system remains reliable.

Kemah mentioned that in order to improve integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness, the entity has to look at itself to know where it is, and where it wants to go, which requires evaluating itself to come up with policies that will guide the entity’s action.

Kemah made the disclosure on October 25, 2022 during the kickoff of its operational documents validation session, held at its offices in Congo Town.

Kemah said as part of its plan, the IAA has been evaluating different processes and also looking at the skillsets of staff to ensure that the entity is in the right position to meet challenges and objectives for the institution.

“We have been here for the past two months trying to get ourselves adjusted with the staff that we met here and deputies that came to join in terms of bringing our institution where it ought to be,” he said.

The IAA, he added, has been one of the government entities that work to improve the integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness of the country.

“In the next few days, we will be looking at the various documents for the IAA, including the regulations, procurement policy, and Audit annual among other documents,” he said.

He said the documents that are expected to be validated will serve as the basis for measuring the activities at different units and also measuring preference in the field.

Kemah revealed that the goal of validating the documents is to make it as simple as possible to allow the accountant of the IAA to look at the various documents and to get an understanding of their purpose.

He added that the Audit manual will be government-wise after the validation session, to get feedback from the government and the public.

Kemah said it is good to have feedback from the public on what the staff have done as an entity.

He said for the short time he has spent at the entity, he has gotten full cooperation from the staff and encouraging signs as to where the IAA is heading.

“I am hopeful that the IAA will rise to the point where the institution will be used as a measurement for other institutions,” Kemah indicated.

He urged the staff to join hands in working towards the entity’s great objective; adding that in the next coming days the entity should have reviewed most of the documents and come up with suggestions and see how best the suggestions will be.