By G. Watson Richards
Scores of Auditors General and senior delegates from across Africa and beyond are in Liberia this week for the Governing Board and Strategic Review Meeting of the African Organization of English-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI-E), the first time the country has hosted the gathering.
The conference, organized by the General Auditing Commission (GAC), has drawn 26 Supreme Audit Institutions representing 24 English-speaking and two Portuguese-speaking African countries. Activities began Monday with the Governing Board Meeting at Boulevard Palace in Monrovia and will continue through Friday at the EJS Ministerial Complex.
Opening the sessions, Liberia’s Auditor General, P. Garswa Jackson, Sr., said the meeting provides Liberia an opportunity to share its experience in strengthening public financial oversight while learning from counterparts across the continent.
Jackson was elected unopposed last October in Accra as chairman of the ECOWAS Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions after presenting Liberia’s Audit Follow-up Mechanism. The system tracks audit recommendations through corrective action plans, monitoring tools and collaboration with oversight bodies to ensure implementation.
AFROSAI-E Chairperson and Kenya’s Auditor General, Nancy Gathungu, is expected to address the meeting. President Joseph Boakai is also scheduled to speak on transparency and accountability.
Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former Finance Minister Antoinette Sayeh are among those slated to present papers during the Strategic Review sessions.
Discussions will center on AFROSAI-E’s 2025–2029 Strategic Plan, peer review processes, institutional independence, capacity building and the use of technology in public finance oversight. Representatives of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as well as the Swedish and Norwegian national audit offices, are expected to participate.
Delegates are expected to conclude the five-day meeting by adopting resolutions aimed at strengthening audit independence, improving regional cooperation and issuing a joint communiqué aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
AFROSAI-E, the English-speaking subgroup of AFROSAI, brings together national audit institutions to promote accountability and sound public financial management across Africa.
