Liberia Joint Public Accounts, Expenditure & Audit Committee PRESENTED BY: HON. BEN A. FOFANA JOINT CHAIRMAN PUBLIC ACCOUNTS, EXPENDITURE AND AUDIT COMMITTEE LIBERIA NATIONAL LEGISLATURE

Power of the Joint PAC of Liberia  Rule 57, section 6 and RULE 44 Section 22 of standing orders the House of Representative and Senate respectively established the Joint Public Accounts, Expenditure and Audit Committee. a. With oversight responsibilities on all matters relating to the General Auditing Commission and other entities dealing in Business of Accountability. b. Provide oversight of Audit and Accountability for the Government functionaries including the private sector and NGO in which Government interest is associated.

Brief Overview of Joint PAC  The Joint Public Accounts, Expenditure and Audit Committee(PAC) comprises of members from both houses of the Legislature in order to facilitate efficient financial Oversight.  The current chairmanship is provided by the House of Representative.  The PAC has a Technical support arm called the PAC secretariat.  The secretariat is managed by three financial Management specialist recruited by the World Bank.  The Joint PAC comprises of 15 Members appointed by the Speaker and the Protemp respectively..

Current PAC Members 1. Hon. Ben A. Fofana : Joint Chairman 2. Sen. Henry W. Yallah : Chairman Senate PAC 3. Hon. Garrison Yealue jr. : Co Chair HOR PAC 4. Sen. Thomas Grupee : Member 5. Sen. George Tengbeh : Member 6. Geraldine Doe Sheriff : Member 7. Sen. Edward B. Dagoseh : Member 8. Sen. Dallas A.V. Gueh : Member 9. Sen. Nyonblee K. Lawrence : Member 10. Sen. Aphonso Gaye : Member 10. Hon. Lester M. Paye : Member 11. Hon. Clearence Massaquoi : Member 12. Hon. Sekou S. Karneh : Member 13. Mathew G. Zarzar : Member 15. James P. Biney : Member

The Mandate of the PAC  Review audit reports produced by the General Auditing Commission (GAC)  Conduct Investigations of the Expenditure of public funds; ie, consolidated Fund and Fiscal Outturn  Investigate irregularities and other issues raised by the GAC;  Develop recommendations on Government Financial Administration;  Ex-post scrutiny of the Budget execution; and  Publication of reports

Progress of the PAC  Organized a fully functioning Secretariat  Two Consultants recruited from the World Bank Financial Management School  Created fully functional Website(  Conducted public hearings on Audit Reports and published a Report on Five Institutions which have now been submitted to the Executive for necessary action while an additional report on six institutions are being validated awaiting publication  Secured FINANCIAL AUTONOMY of the General Auditing Commission  Enhanced media relation and effectiveness in the scrutiny and conduct of Public Hearing  Approximately 75% of the Backlogs and New Audit Reports have been analyzed awaiting public haring

Challenges Challenges  Huge Funding gap created due to the withdrawal of direct support of the IPFMRP and other Partners  Implementation of PAC Recommendations by the Executive  Capacity Building of the Secretariat Staffs and New PAC Members  Decentralization of Public Hearing on County /Social Development Funds  Lack of Logistic and modern Transcription Devices  Huge backlog of Audit Report on ministries, agencies, Public corporation and County/Social Development Funds.  Frequent Change of Committee Members

Partners of PAC  Government of the Republic of Liberia  World Bank  Integrated Public Financial Management Reform Project ( IPFMRP)  USAID  UNMIL Established collaboration and outreach with Partners in the Accountability Sector  General Auditing Commission  Liberia Anti Corruption Commission  Internal Audit Agency  Public Procurement Concession Commission  Governance Commission  Fraud Investigation Unit  Civil society and Media Institutions

THANKS