Liberia $700.000 Ebola Fund Unaccounted For

MONROVIA, Liberia — A new audit in Liberia released Wednesday found nearly $700,000 was spent by a government ministry in the fight against Ebola without those expenses being properly documented.

The General Auditing Commission published the report and called on the Ministry of Defense to explain the lack of receipts.

The $673,000 was spent on fuel, staff allowances, communication costs and training, according to the expenditure summary submitted.

Liberia’s Information Ministry said Wednesday’s audit report talks more about “procedural errors” than a misapplication of the funds.

However, the commission said that “funds disbursed without supporting documents could lead to misappropriation.”

Wednesday’s report also accused the Liberia National Police of several improprieties. It said allowances were paid for 68 officers during the Ebola crisis even though they were never found to be in the areas they were assigned.

The police responded saying those in question were deployed on “covert operations” to help contain the disease’s spread.

Ebola has ravaged Liberia over the past year, killing at least 4,486 people. While cases continue to erupt in Guinea and Sierra Leone, Liberia will be declared Ebola-free if there are no new infections reported by May 8.

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