Cooperation with the General Auditing Commission of Liberia
The Swedish National Audit Office cooperates with the supreme audit institution in Liberia to help improve their audits and make them more reliable. We assist with staffing issues and various types of audits. The goal is to improve the quality of their work and help them build confidence in their audits.
Focus areas
We have worked with the General Auditing Commission of Liberia on various occasions. Current projects are based on past experience. We support the various HR and audit functions (financial audit, compliance audit and performance audit). The aim of our support is to strengthen the auditors’ methodological knowledge and to advise on current audits. We also help them to strengthen their HR processes and support managers in their quality control.
Empowering these functions help improve the quality of their audits, which is essential for building trust in public auditing in Liberia. The General Auditing Commission of Liberia is an independent and credible actor in Liberia.
Outcomes
Previous collaborations with the General Auditing Commission of Liberia have led to several improvements:
- About 20 managers have received training and have gained an understanding of the manager’s role in relation to quality control and quality assurance.
- A quality assurance function has been established.
- At the authority, there is a strong drive and desire for empowerment and continued development within the cooperation.
Circumstances and challenges
The General Auditing Commission of Liberia faces various challenges, such as:
- The authority is independent, but the Ministry of Finance nevertheless has a great influence on its budget. The authority does not receive the entire proposed budget and very rarely receives its funding on time. These constraints to resources make it difficult to be able to carry out planned audits on time.
- The authority faces difficulties in accessing requested public information in time. This leads to delays in audits and reporting.
- The level of knowledge among the auditors varies tremendously, leading to resource challenges and a lack of quality in the audits.
- A lack of political will to implement the recommendations of the audits reduces their impact.