In Summary:
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During Recent interview, Finance Minister Augustine Ngafuan claimed that the GAC’s 2023 audit reported US$4.27 million in undocumented payments and US$96 million in off-budget spending, compared to US$2.8 million in each category for 2024.
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He also claimed that the 2023 audit carried an adverse opinion, while the 2024 audit was issued with a qualified opinion.
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We have verified these claims by reviewing the two audit reports and found them to be correct.
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However, his claim that the University of Liberia received nearly 100% of its 2024 budget allocation, without disbursing “only US$16,000” was found to be incorrect.
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Records show UL received US$31.1 million of US$33.7 million, leaving a shortfall of US$2.6 million (92.3% of its budget).
On September 8, while speaking on State Radio ELBC, Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan urged the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) to investigate the General Auditing Commission’s (GAC) reports for 2023 and 2024.
He claimed that the 2023 audit identified US$4.27 million in undocumented disbursements and US$96 million in payments made without Legislative approval, compared to the 2024 audit, which highlighted US$2.8 million in undocumented payments and off-budget spending.
In the same interview, Minister Ngafuan also claimed that the University of Liberia received nearly 100% of its 2024 budget, stating that the only amount it did not get was US$16,000.
Claim #1
In his exact words, he said: “Now, let’s compar: last year’s report was ‘qualified’, meaning it was good, but there were one or two exceptions the auditors say we should work on. The 2023 report was adverse; the Auditor General said it was bad. This issue about documentation that they identified in the 2024 report as US$2.8, in 2023, they identified US$4.27 for lack of documentation.”
Rating Justification
To verify these claims, we reviewed the two GAC audit reports referenced by Minister Ngafuan.
The Auditor General’s 2023 report, issued with an adverse opinion, found that management made payments of US$4.27 million without proper documentation.
Below is a screenshot of the opinion of the Auditor General on the audit of the consolidated funds account financial statements by the General Auditing Commission.
Meanwhile, the 2024 report, issued with a qualified opinion, identified US$2.85 million in undocumented payments.
Also, the opinion of the Auditor General on the audit of the consolidated funds account of 2024 is seen in the screenshot below:
In auditing, an adverse opinion means the statements are materially misstated and unreliable, while a qualified opinion means the misstatements are limited to specific areas.
Conclusion
After reviewing the two audit reports, we find Finance Minister Augustine Ngafuan’s claim to be correct.
The 2023 GAC report did identify US$4.27 million in undocumented payments and was issued with an “adverse opinion”. Likewise, the 2024 report identified US$2.8 million in undocumented payments and was issued with a qualified opinion.
Claim #2
Said Minister Ngafuan: “Let me give you another area of distinction, they say the payment without Legislative approval is US$2.8. Do you know what it was in 2023? US$96 million.”
Rating Justification
Our team verified this claim by reviewing the General Auditing Commission’s audit reports of the Consolidated Financial Statements for 2023 and 2024.
In the 2023 report, the Auditor General noted that management disbursed US$96,131,404.18 in expenditures that exceeded the appropriation approved in the National Budget for that fiscal year.
According to the Auditor General, “management provided no evidence that the significant excess expenditures, made without supporting documents, were approved by the National Legislature or that copies of the approved Statement of Excess Expenditure were submitted to the Legislature and the Office of the President, as required under Section 24(1–2) of the PFM Act of 2009, amended and restated in 2019”.
Similarly, the 2024 audit report showed that management disbursed US$2,806,470 beyond the approved budget for Fiscal Year 2024.
Conclusion
Based on these findings, we conclude that Minister Ngafuan’s claim is correct: the past administration executed US$96 million in off-budget spending in 2023, compared to US$2.8 million under the current administration in 2024.
Claim #3
Responding to questions about disbursement to the state-run university, he said: “The University of Liberia got almost 100% of its budget in 2024; the only amount the university didn’t receive in the budget was US$16,000”.
Rating Justification
To verify this claim, we reviewed the Government of Liberia’s Consolidated Financial Statement for Fiscal Year 2024. A review of the document showed that the university’s approved allotment for FY2024 was US$33.7 million. The actual spending by the university in that year amounted to US$31.1 million, leaving a variance of US$2.6 million, according to the consolidated financial statement.
After discovering this huge variance, contrary to what the Finance Minister pronounced, we contacted the Ministry through its Communication Department for the source and documentation supporting the Minister’s claim.
The Ministry, through its Communication Department, did not respond to our inquiry up to the publication of this fact-check report. We will update this report once a response is provided.
Conclusion
Based on our findings, we conclude that Minister Ngafuan’s claim that almost 100% of the budget allocated to UL was disbursed is incorrect.
According to the Consolidated financial statement, the UL got US$31.1 million or 92.3% of the total US$33.7 million allotted to it in 2024. The expenditure made by the university resulted in a variance of US$2.6 million and not US$16,000 as claimed by the Minister.
