The House of Representatives had a chance this week to prove that its newfound zeal for accountability is more than a press release. Instead, it chose procedural fog and a flimsy myth.
Representative Musa Hassan Bility’s call to expand the recently approved internal audit to cover 2018–2021 is neither radical nor partisan. It is the bare minimum. If the House has not been formally audited “for several decades,” as Bility notes, then drawing an arbitrary line at five years is an invitation to doubt, not a commitment to truth.
That is why the claims advanced by Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon and Representative Gizzie K. Kollince deserve firm rebuttal. There is no auditing standard—domestic or international—that forbids an audit of records older than five years. None. Audits can examine any period for which records exist. The five-to-seven-year figures invoked by the Speaker relate to statutes of limitations for prosecuting crimes or to record-retention policies—not to the permissibility of auditing. Confusing these concepts, then dressing the confusion in the language of “expertise,” is not just wrong; it is corrosive to public trust.
The General Auditing Commission’s recent audit of Liberia’s national debt reaching back to 1980 is a living refutation of the supposed five-year ceiling. Faced with that inconvenient example, the leadership waved it away as a special case and resorted to an irrelevant citation—“audit standard 52.2”—as if a stray reference could substitute for evidence. It cannot. And when the argument collapsed, the exchange slid into personal digs at Bility’s past, which only underscored the weakness of the case against expanding the audit.
What is the House afraid of? If the leadership truly believes the current systems audit will showcase reform, then a broader time horizon should strengthen—not threaten—its credibility. Limiting the scope risks looking like an effort to protect certain tenures, shield sensitive transactions, or manage the narrative. That perception is poisonous, especially after months of leadership crises and in a climate where citizens already suspect that “oversight” too often means overlooking.
The Committee on Public Accounts now carries the weight of restoring confidence. Referring Bility’s communication there could be a sincere attempt to sort out scope and feasibility—or it could be a burial. The difference will be visible in days, not months.
What should happen next
– Expand the scope: Authorize the GAC to audit the House from 2018 to the present, with the option to broaden further if records allow. Put the scope in a formal resolution so it cannot be quietly narrowed later.
– Preserve the evidence: Issue an immediate records-preservation order covering all financial, procurement, payroll, asset, and contract files (including emails and digital logs) from 2018 onward. Freezing the record is standard practice and a test of seriousness.
– Let the GAC lead: Reaffirm—by action, not quotation—the GAC’s independence to set methodology, sample periods, and fieldwork plans. No “coordination” that becomes interference.
– Publish the plan: Require the GAC to release an audit timeline, scope memo, and reporting milestones to the public. Commit to publishing the full report and management response.
– Protect people: Enact or enforce whistleblower protections for legislative staff and vendors who provide information, and establish a confidential channel to the GAC.
– Fix the system, not just the headlines: Follow the systems audit with a full financial audit and implement an Internal Audit Secretariat and automated financial management system on a clear schedule, with quarterly public updates.
This is not a contest between Speaker Koon and Representative Bility, nor a proxy war between factions. It is a test of whether Liberia’s Legislature will hold itself to the same standard it demands of ministries and agencies. An audit that stops where the questions begin is not an audit; it is a performance.
The House asked the public to believe that “this is our area of expertise.” Good. Then show it. Expand the scope, secure the records, and let the GAC do its work. Accountability delayed is accountability denied—and the country has waited long enough.
