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| Pres. Sirleaf |
Robert Kilby, auditor-general of the General Auditing Commission (GAC), has been fired by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Dismissed along with him, was his long time friend, the director-general of the General Services Agency (GSA), Ms. Pearine Davis-Parkinson. The duo was dismissed “for non-compliance with, or violation of, public financial management and procurement laws.”
The pair ran out of luck early last week when an act of impropriety on their part was exposed during the ongoing budget hearing at the Capitol. It all started when Parkinson admitted to the budget committee that the GSA, under her command, signed a US$220, 900.00 contract with Kilby’s private accounting firm, Independent Software Certification Institute (ISCI), to carry out asset and fleet management, tracking and reporting system at the GSA. An additional contract entered into by the pair was a US$97, 680.00 deal for the development of a catalog system. But following further review by the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC), the Commission found “an undisclosed conflict of interest issue, as the ISCI is owned by Mr. Kilby.”
The pair ran out of luck early last week when an act of impropriety on their part was exposed during the ongoing budget hearing at the Capitol. It all started when Parkinson admitted to the budget committee that the GSA, under her command, signed a US$220, 900.00 contract with Kilby’s private accounting firm, Independent Software Certification Institute (ISCI), to carry out asset and fleet management, tracking and reporting system at the GSA. An additional contract entered into by the pair was a US$97, 680.00 deal for the development of a catalog system. But following further review by the Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC), the Commission found “an undisclosed conflict of interest issue, as the ISCI is owned by Mr. Kilby.”
The PPCC said in addition to several other violations of its Act with regards to the processes leading to the awarding of both contracts, the GSA disregarded “an apparent conflict of interest by awarding a contract to a company, wherein the lead auditor is the Auditor General of Liberia.”
Below is the President's statement:
After review of documentary evidence over the weekend, I am today formally requesting the concurrence of the Honorable Legislature to dismiss the Auditor General, Robert Kilby, for failure to disclose private business activities that represent a clear conflict of interest with his official duties as Head of the institution with prime responsibility to investigate and advise on non-compliance with our public financial management and procurement laws.
I am communicating to the Legislature the causes for this dismissal.
For the same reason, I am dismissing the Director General of the General Services Agency, Ms. Pearine Davis-Pakinson, who approved those contracts in violation of our procurement laws and procedures.
In an unrelated matter relating to Human Trafficking, based on investigation by the Ministry of Justice, I am dismissing the Deputy Minister of Justice for Administration and Public Safety, Col. Freddie Taylor; the Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration for Operations, Mr. Robert Budy; and the Director of Border Management, Cllr. Wilson Garpeh.
A team to be headed by the Minister of Labour is instructed to conduct further investigation on additional measures that may be taken and on the role and action to be taken against the former Solicitor General, Cllr. Micah Wright; the Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization; and the Honorary Consul, Upjit Sachdeva.
Also on an unrelated matter, I am suspending, pending an investigation, the Deputy Minister for Public Works for Operations, Mr. Victor Smith, for failure to adhere to the public procurement and financial rules of the Government as relates to the awarding of construction contracts.
Join me in our continued fight against corruption.
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