29/05/2025
Monrovia โ An audit report released by the General Auditing Commission (GAC) has uncovered extensive payroll irregularities at the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs (MOS), citing gross financial mismanagement, fraudulent recruitment practices, and deliberate violations of Liberia's public financial laws between July 1, 2018, and March 31, 2024.
The findings, contained in a March 2025 report signed by Auditor General P. Garswa Jackson Sr., cover the administrations of former Ministers of State Nathaniel F. McGill (January 2018-August 2021), G. Wesseh Blamo (August 2021-January 2024), and current Minister Sylvester M. Grigsby (appointed January 2024). The audit describes the MOS supplementary payroll system as noncompliant "in all material respects" with the Revenue Code of 2011, Public Financial Management Act of 2009, and several other legal frameworks.
Among the most staggering revelations, the GAC found that MOS "expended US$3,506,271.00 in excess of its approved budget for supplementary personnel" over the six-year period.
The audit also found that from July 2018 to March 2024, payroll records were "incomplete, inaccurate, and inadequately documented," with salary payments totaling US$7,933,573.01 and L$964,766.21 unsupported by any payroll journals, debit instructions, or bank statements.
In September 2020, the report noted a serious payroll discrepancy, revealing that 58 individuals were paid though they did not appear on the official personnel list, and 129 individuals listed as employees did not appear on the payroll.
Moreover, in early 2024, during the supplementary staff close-out exercise, the GAC observed that severance payments for 647 laid-off employees were calculated using an unauthorized two-week formula, in violation of Chapter 14.5 of the Decent Work Act of 2015, which requires four weeks of severance pay for each completed year of service. Worse still, 74 employees, whose legitimacy could not be authenticated, were owed US$76,440 in unpaid benefits--yet no evidence was found that their checks were voided or funds retained.
Additionally, from July 2018 to December 2023, the Ministry failed to maintain staff attendance records, undermining payroll verification processes and opening the system to abuse. "Daily attendance records from the periods July 2018 to December 2023 were not made available for our verification," the report stated.
The report also documented serious tax compliance failures. Over the full audit period, MOS did not remit personal income taxes deducted from employees' salaries, as required under Section 905 of the Revenue Code of Liberia (2011 amendment).
"Management did not remit into GoL Revenue Account, Personal Income Tax (PIT) withheld from supplementary staff for the fiscal periods under audit," the report stated.
Equally alarming, the audit found no evidence that employer or employee contributions were paid to the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP) at any time from 2018 to 2024, contravening the 2017 NASSCORP Act, which mandates a 10% contribution of gross salaries.
The GAC slammed the Ministry for failing to follow any competitive recruitment procedures in hiring 739 supplementary staff. "We observed no evidence of written request to the Director-General of the CSA... prior to the hiring," auditors wrote. Many of these individuals were employed "based on written or oral request from senior Management," and in many cases, lacked application letters, appointment letters, or even credentials.
Records reviewed during the audit showed that out of 551 employee files examined, 547 lacked appointment letters, 542 lacked applications, and 200 had no credentials attached. Furthermore, 188 out of the 739 employees had no personnel file at all.
The internal control framework at the Ministry was described as severely flawed. "There is no approved Human Resource Policy and Procedures to guide the human resource activities at the entity," the audit noted. Payroll was processed using Microsoft Excel rather than a secured automated system, and there was no clear segregation of duties between the HR and Finance departments during payroll processing.
The audit further noted that several employees in similar roles and departments were being paid drastically different salaries, a violation of the GOL harmonized salary structure. "Salaries were not within the salary structure/pay grade for several positions," the audit emphasized.
In response, the GAC has urged the National Legislature to take immediate action. "Given the significance of the matters raised in this report, we urge the Honourable Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives and the Honourable Pro-Tempore and Members of the Liberia Senate to consider the implementation of the recommendations conveyed in this report with urgency," Jackson wrote.
Despite verbal commitments from the MOS to address some of the issues--such as introducing a salary structure and adopting HR policies--the GAC pointed out that "Management's assertion was not supported by documentary evidence" and vowed to follow up during the next audit cycle.
Source:AllAfrica
