Monrovia, Liberia – Following a compliance assessment of the Special Investigation at Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), the General Auditing Commission (GAC) discovered that the LTA had improperly awarded the headquarters building contract and failed to record government income.
Keeping with the Auditor General’s objective as stated in Section 2.1.3 of the GAC Act of 2014 as well as in line with other relevant legislation, the compliance audit, for the year January 1, 2023, was conducted in compliance with pertinent laws and regulations.
Per the audit, LTA Management failed to submit Government’s share of cash receipts on accumulated revenue amounts US$3,859,662.18 for the period January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023.
Management continues to pay TIA 49% of income in 2023 instead of the 45% specified in the contract for the remaining four years of the deal the research revealed.
The report on closing cash balance by the Auditor General also did not match the unreserved share of income gathered by the Government of Liberia, which for the audit came at US$$2,943.
The Management failed to ensure that the nine percent (9%) regulatory fee charge on Mobile Network Operators’ (MTN and Orange) total profits included within the revenue sharing for TIA. In compliance with the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, management opened a temporary bank account at the Unite Bank of Africa Liberia Limited to accept Liberian Dollar payments.
Although the Ministry of Public Works sent LTA a communication including lists of consulting service companies for technical supervisors as included in the procurement plan, the headquarters construction contract revealed that there was no evidence of a bidding process started for the hiring of a project independent evaluator.
The audit also found no evidence of a procurement procedure carried out or a contract signed between LTA and Hasan Al-Turabi Samura, the subsequently appointed private evaluator.
The audit also revealed lacking evidence of business registration, tax clearance, and ToR for the US$1,000 paid to evaluate the state of the project for the next milestone payment term (12% US$552,491.76).
Hasan Al-Turabi Samura, the private assessor, did not fully catalog technical aspects of building projects supported by pictorial proof. But the audit report provided the foundation of disbursement of US$903,368.00 made to Building Material Center Group Incorporated for service rendered.
The audit also revealed that the LTA management paid BMC Incorporated two payments totaling L$169,319,769.20 (about US$903,368.00) in excess of the second payment terms in breach of the contract milestone for the 12% payment of the entire contract price). evaluator Hasan y: Tura i saira, ego septeme 9, 2023 With US$360,876.24, the two payments exceeded the 12% second payment term under the contract.
The audit revealed no evidence indicating the bid evaluation committee members possessed the technical knowledge and experience necessary to assess a technical proposal for a building project. The audit revealed no proof that the bid evaluation committee evaluated and determined the rights and ownership of assets in the bid proposal according the bid assessment criteria.
The GAC Recommends Management to consider the unremitted Government of Liberia (GoL) share of income valueing US$4,035,147.58. Management also has to help to straight forward the deposit of this unqualified sum into the consolidated account.
The GAC advised management going ahead to make sure the GoL’s share of income was deposited timely into the consolidated account. The Revenue Sharing MOU should be changed to include the authorized revenue-sharing rates decided upon by the Legislature at the beginning of every fiscal year. To guarantee appropriate fee distribution as they are paid, these approved rates between the TIA, LTA, and GoL should be automatically shown in the transitory account.
Periodically reconciliations of revenue-sharing studies, comparison of billed amounts, collected amounts, and payments made to the parties engaged by management should also be carried out Any differences found ought to be looked at and fixed in next payments. Together with supporting documentation, evidence of these regular income reconciliations should be correctly recorded and submitted for future inspection.
In response, the management said, it observed that the auditors exaggerated the total remittances in Liberian Dollars for the GoL’s portion of telecom income. The auditors noted L$546,053,627.39 altogether; the actual value is L$575, 223,561, which undervalues L$29, 169,934.16.
Management said the LTA paid the remittances and then passed them to the GoL for 2024. Processing delays resulted from the delayed Manager’s Check issuing by the Central Bank of Liberia allowing the transfers to the GoL.
Photo credit: GAC
