In an official memorandum addressed to Chancellor Aguila Saleh, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Omar Abdrabbuh Saleh, head of the House’s Audit Bureau, warned of the legal, administrative, and technical risks associated with the “Your Salary, Instantly” platform. The platform was launched by the Central Bank of Libya in cooperation with the Government of National Unity to enable government employees to receive their salaries through a unified system.
The Bureau clarified that the new platform exceeds the legal jurisdictions of financial authorities and financial controllers, and constitutes a violation of the State’s Financial System Law and its executive regulations. It warned that this could lead to the waste of public funds and a loss of control over the salaries item, which accounts for more than forty-five percent of public spending.
Reducing Oversight Powers
The Bureau noted that the unified system eliminates the decentralized nature of salary disbursement and curtails the powers of administrative bodies and financial controllers. This obstructs the monitoring of financial operations, delays the payment of financial entitlements, and increases the risks of hacking or leakage of sensitive financial data.
It also pointed out that the platform imposes absolute centralized control over financial resources, confining the disbursement process solely to the Ministry of Finance, which exposes it to a complete shutdown in the event of technical failures or network problems. It asserted that this undermines the ability of local authorities to resolve urgent problems or settle discrepancies and allowances.
Return to the Decentralized System
Based on a comprehensive legal and administrative analysis, the Audit Bureau recommended a return to the decentralized system for managing government appropriations, while strengthening financial documentation, effective oversight, and updating relevant financial laws to align with any future developments in disbursement systems.
In conclusion, the head of the Audit Bureau stressed that the purpose of this warning is to protect public funds, guarantee the rights of employees, and prevent any practices that could lead to corruption or financial waste in the absence of deterrent legal frameworks.