Profile of the Comptroller and Accountant General (CAG)

Liberia’s Comptroller and Accountant General (CAG) is Atty. Janga Augustus Kowo. He is a seasoned public finance and accounting professional with progressive experience in Public Finance, Accounting, and Auditing spanning more than two decades. Based on his experience in Public Sector Accounting and Public Financial Management, His Excellency President George Manneh Weah appointed him to occupy the post of Comptroller and Accountant General of the Republic of Liberia. Atty. Kowo spearheads government accounting and treasury functions. He championed the reform that led to the establishment of the Comptroller and Accountant General’s Department of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning under the Donor Supported Public Financial Management Reforms Initiatives of the Government of Liberia.

Atty. Kowo has worked in several capacities in Public Financial Management in Liberia. He served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Reformed General Auditing Commission (GAC) of Liberia, where his role included risk management, planning, budgeting, accounting, and financial reporting and audit support services among others. Under the direct supervision of the European Union recruited former Auditor General of Liberia, Atty. Janga A. Kowo led the Reorganization Team of the New General Auditing Commission of Liberia. In this role, he spearheaded the overall management of the first postwar recruitment and restructuring efforts of Liberia’s supreme audit institution.

Atty. Kowo served as a Financial Reporting Consultant of the World Bank Funded State-owned Enterprise (SOE) Unit where he worked to ensure that state-owned enterprises in Liberia follow public financial Management regulations and are also accountable to the Liberian people through the budget process.

The country’s Comptroller and Accountant General started his professional career at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning in the mid-1990s. He served in several capacities at the former Ministry of Finance rising from a cadet to the position of Senior Supervisor in the Motor Vehicle Division, where he was responsible for supervising the collection of motor vehicle registration taxes for the then Department of Revenues at the erstwhile Ministry of Finance, Liberia.

The Comptroller and Accountant General have also contributed to the democratic development of Liberia through the administration of Transitional justice at the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). At the TRC, Atty. Kowo served as the Deputy Coordinator for Montserrado County spearheading the collection and documentation of statements and records about the country’s civil conflict.

Atty. Janga A. Kowo also has a rich background in student activism and politics. He is former President of the Liberia National Student Union (LINSU) and organized the first successful post-war congress of the National Student Movement. In January 2015, he was elected National Secretary-General of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) at its convention in Bentol, Montserrado County, and led the CDC National Secretariat to win a decisive victory in the 2017 Democratic Elections in Liberia. Following the election victory, he served as Secretary to the Joint Presidential Transition Team (JPTT) of the Outgoing President and the Incoming President. The JPTT successfully coordinated the peaceful transition of power from the old regime of Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to the new regime of H.E President George Manneh Weah.

Academically, Atty. Janga A. Kowo holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB) Degree from the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia, and MBA from the Maharishi University of Management (MUM) in Iowa, the United States in 2010, and a BBA with an emphasis in Accounting and Management from the University of Liberia in 2006. He also holds a certificate in Public Financial Management from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, along with several other certifications and professional training from the United Nations Institute of Training and Research (UNITAR), the African Development Institute (ADI), and the West Africa Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM).