Author: Tech Support

IAA Takes Giant Leap With Reform
Agenda In Liberia

-Launches Audit Software, Nat’l Scorecard For
Public Sector Entities

The Internal Audit Agency (IAA) has vowed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes of Ministries, Agencies and Commissions (MACs) of the Government of Liberia.

Speaking at the official Validation Ceremony of its Policies and Procedure documents over the weekend in Gompa city, Nimba County, the Director General of the IAA, Hon. David Kemah, described the gathering as a milestone achievement not just for the IAA, but the entire country.

Director General Kemah conveyed special appreciation to the development partners for the support thus far, as well as, other integrity institutions like the General Auditing Commission and the Public Procurement and Concession Commission for being present at the validation exercise.

Hon. Kemah emphasized that auditors are people of facts who are required to provide relevant information that help clients to do the right things. Thus, the validation of various Policies and Procedures that seek to provide guidance for government entities in the discharge of their mandates.

The Director General further emphasized the need for more training of auditors to improve their capacity to deliver quality services that add value to the activities of client entities.

Hon. Kemah disclosed that his leadership will endeavor to source support from partners particularly for the professional qualification of internal auditors. He named those professional qualifications to include: the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) exams, the Chartered Accountant (CA) exams, the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exams, the Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) exams, among others.

Some of the Policies and Procedures that were validated include: the IAA’s five-year Strategic Plan, the National Compliance Checklist for all public entities, the National Scorecard template and the Internal Auditing Manual. Other documents validated include: the IAA’s Regulations, the Audit Procedures and Operational Manual, the Financial Procedures Manual, the Human Resources Manual, among others.

The Internal Audit Agency (IAA) has vowed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes of Ministries, Agencies and Commissions (MACs) of the Government of Liberia.

Speaking at the official Validation Ceremony of its Policies and Procedure documents over the weekend in Gompa city, Nimba County, the Director General of the IAA, Hon. David Kemah, described the gathering as a milestone achievement not just for the IAA, but the entire country.

Director General Kemah conveyed special appreciation to the development partners for the support thus far, as well as, other integrity institutions like the General Auditing Commission and the Public Procurement and Concession Commission for being present at the validation exercise.

Hon. Kemah emphasized that auditors are people of facts who are required to provide relevant information that help clients to do the right things. Thus, the validation of various Policies and Procedures that seek to provide guidance for government entities in the discharge of their mandates.

The Director General further emphasized the need for more training of auditors to improve their capacity to deliver quality services that add value to the activities of client entities.

Hon. Kemah disclosed that his leadership will endeavor to source support from partners particularly for the professional qualification of internal auditors. He named those professional qualifications to include: the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) exams, the Chartered Accountant (CA) exams, the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exams, the Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) exams, among others.

Some of the Policies and Procedures that were validated include: the IAA’s five-year Strategic Plan, the National Compliance Checklist for all public entities, the National Scorecard template and the Internal Auditing Manual. Other documents validated include: the IAA’s Regulations, the Audit Procedures and Operational Manual, the Financial Procedures Manual, the Human Resources Manual, among others.

IAA Concludes Validation of Policies, Procedures -Commits to improving efficiency across gov’t

The Internal Audit Agency (IAA) has vowed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes of Ministries, Agencies and Commissions (MACs) of the Government of Liberia.

Speaking at the official Validation Ceremony of its Policies and Procedure documents over the weekend in Gompa city, Nimba County, the Director General of the IAA, Hon. David Kemah, described the gathering as a milestone achievement not just for the IAA, but the entire country.

Director General Kemah conveyed special appreciation to the development partners for the support thus far, as well as, other integrity institutions like the General Auditing Commission and the Public Procurement and Concession Commission for being present at the validation exercise.

Hon. Kemah emphasized that auditors are people of facts who are required to provide relevant information that help clients to do the right things. Thus, the validation of various Policies and Procedures that seek to provide guidance for government entities in the discharge of their mandates.

The Director General further emphasized the need for more training of auditors to improve their capacity to deliver quality services that add value to the activities of client entities.

Hon. Kemah disclosed that his leadership will endeavor to source support from partners particularly for the professional qualification of internal auditors. He named those professional qualifications to include: the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) exams, the Chartered Accountant (CA) exams, the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exams, the Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) exams, among others.

Some of the Policies and Procedures that were validated include: the IAA’s five-year Strategic Plan, the National Compliance Checklist for all public entities, the National Scorecard template and the Internal Auditing Manual. Other documents validated include: the IAA’s Regulations, the Audit Procedures and Operational Manual, the Financial Procedures Manual, the Human Resources Manual, among others.

IAA Continues Rebranding Strategy

The Internal Audit Agency has continued its engagement with national institutions expending public resources, this time with the Liberia Football Association (LFA) at its headquarters at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium on Lynch street and U.N. Drive.

The engagement meeting, which coincides with the entity’s rebranding strategy, is a result of an earlier request from the LFA management requesting the IAA’s deployment of internal auditor(s) to strengthen controls of its activities.

The LFA’s President, Mr. Mustapha Raji, welcomed the IAA’s delegation and reaffirmed his desire to build a far more better system that is compliant with existing standards and regulations locally and globally.

Leading the day’s presentation, the Sector Director for County Operations, Mr. Gbanjah Campbell, drilled through the role and functions of the Internal Audit Agency, as well as the entity’s Ten Priority areas upon which the scorecards will be determined.

The scorecard is a product of the IAA’s Quarterly Performance Indicator which oozed out of the recently held National Transparency and Integrity Forum between the IAA and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, with representatives from the Integrity sector, Ministries, Agencies and Commissions (MACs), State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and the Civil Society.

At the close of the presentation, the LFA President, Mr. Raji, thanked the IAA for the engagement and pledged to ensure that he engages with the Executive Committee of the LFA for endorsement. This will then precipitate the conduct of a Risk Assessment to inform management of existing risks and remedial actions to addressing said risks.

Meanwhile, the IAA has concluded similar engagement with the Accounting Services Unit (ASU) and the Project Financial Management Unit (PFMU) of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.

The engagements sought to strengthen cooperation aimed at addressing compliance lapses with daily transactions, as well as, donor funded projects across government MACs and SOEs.

IAA Concludes Strategic Planning Retreat

The Internal Audit Agency of Liberia has concluded a three-day Strategic Planning Retreat in Ganta City, Nimba County, with a recommitment to ensuring compliance with relevant laws in the utilization of public resources.

The Retreat is part of the IAA’s ongoing reform efforts aimed at further strengthening institutional governance and increasing productivity at the workplace. 

A cross section of staff from various units within the entity participated in the three-day intensive working sessions that deliberated key instruments of relevance, including the entity’s Regulation and Strategic Plan, among others.

The IAA’s Regulation reflects an explanation of the 2013 Act establishing the Internal Audit Agency, while the Strategic Plan encapsulates a five-year roadmap that specifically supports the Accountability pillar of the Government’s Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD). 

Speaking at the Retreat, the Acting Director General of the IAA, Hon. Clarence W. Williams, challenged employees to recommit to the statutory mandate of the IAA by promulgating and ensuring that common internal audit standards and systems, in keeping with best practices, are established and maintained across the Government of Liberia. 

Hon. Williams indicated that, as part of its five-year Strategic Plan, the IAA, under its deployment strategy, is determined to cover 85% of the total number of entities within the public sector. Currently, the IAA covers 63% of the total number of public sector entities in Liberia. 

Commenting on ongoing reform efforts at the IAA, the Acting Director General pronounced his full support to the establishment of the Standardization, Production and Archiving Section as proposed by the Department of Audit Services. 

The Standardization, Production and Archiving Section will ensure that all audit reports are uniquely formatted, properly produced and carefully archived with the ultimate goal of attaining uniformity and ease of reference. 

Meanwhile, the IAA boss has reaffirmed the entity’s commitment to the impending nationwide payroll verification exercise of the National Payroll Cleanup Taskforce constituted by His Excellency President George Manneh Weah. 

As Co-chair on the Taskforce, Hon. Williams reiterated IAA’s professional readiness to lead the process of conducting physical audits of government payrolls, consistent with its statutory mandate. 

The nationwide payroll cleanup exercise, which is expected to roll out shortly this month, seeks to conduct physical head counts of Government employees in all fifteen counties of Liberia with the aim of removing ghost employees from the wage bill.

In the last 12 months, the IAA has audited the payrolls of over six Government institutions and successfully identified and removed about 800 ghost names from the payroll, thereby saving the Government an annual dollar value of L$175.1Million.

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