By Vivienne Russell | 18 December 2013

Liberia’s Ministry of Finance has begun an investigation into the approval of irregular government payments, suspending six of its employees including the comptroller and accounting general.

A statement from the ministry said: ‘The action against these employees was based on preliminary information indicating that they were negligent or complacent in the discharge of their functions leading to the processing of payments that were fraught with abnormalities.’

In went on to state that, while not all the facts around the disbursements were yet known, it was ‘prudent and wise to take immediate actions to protect the integrity and sanctity of the public financial management system which the ministry so highly values’.

As well as the accountant general, Boom Wilson, the suspended staff include Liberia’s deputy comptroller general for accounting services, Siafa Chowoe.

The controversy centres on spending approval for contracts that showed signs of forgery and tampering. ‘[These] include defacements and crossing out of facts and writing over a contract that was consummated and executed in the last fiscal year (2012/13),’ the ministry said.

The contracts were processed through the finance system up to cheque-release stage, at which point the abnormalities were spotted and the payments stopped.

‘Authorities of the Ministry of Finance have launched an investigation in the matter and say they will not relent in taking appropriate actions to ensure that such behaviour is fully punished and discouraged,’ the statement concluded.

‘The Ministry of Finance strongly believes that fiscal discipline, transparency and accountability can play a critical role in helping to contain corruption and raise the needed resources to finance Liberia’s development agenda.’