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Liberia: Need To Improve Accountability and Control Over U.S. Assistance

NSIAD-87-173 Published: Jul 16, 1987. Publicly Released: Jul 17, 1987.
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Highlights

In response to a congressional request, GAO examined U.S. economic, food, and security assistance programs to Liberia since 1980 to determine whether controls over U.S. funds are adequate.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
U.S. Agency for International Development The Administrator, AID, should negotiate agreements with the government of Liberia to strengthen controls over the Public Law 480 program. The following provisions should be considered: (1) counterpart funds should be placed in a commercial bank not affiliated with Liberia; (2) the AID mission should be allowed to have prior approval authority for all checks written on the counterpart fund account; (3) project plans that include such things as project objectives, budget line items, and reporting requirements should be submitted to the AID mission prior to disbursing counterpart funds; and (4) independent verification of counterpart fund use should be made by a party acceptable to both Liberia and the United States.
Closed – Implemented
AID has negotiated tighter controls with Liberia. These include: (1) complete privatization of P.L. 480 program; (2) deposit of counterpart funds in a private bank; (3) FY 1989 program provisions for mission approval of local currency disbursements; and (4) an audit plan requiring advance approval by the mission.

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Topics

Agricultural assistanceContract administrationForeign economic assistanceForeign military assistanceFunds managementInternational agreementsInternational food programsProgram managementReporting requirementsSpecial fund accounts