President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, has re-nominated David A. Kemah as director general of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA) for a second four-year tenure.
Kemah, who holds an MBA from Nichols College, is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), has led the agency since September, 2022.
The renewal of his mandate reflects strong executive confidence in his ability to continue safeguarding public resources, and advancing fiscal integrity across state institutions.
According to a release, under Kemah’s leadership from 2022 to 2026, IAA has achieved significant institutional modernization, and strategic alignment.
Key milestones include developing the 2025–2029 Strategic Plan aligned with the Government’s ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID), executing major workplace renovations at headquarters, and expanding the agency’s workforce to 263 employees alongside 15 interns from the President’s Young Professional Program (PYPP), and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Over 177 internal auditors in 97 public entities were trained in international standards, with staff earning professional certifications (CIA, LICPA, CFE) and advanced degrees.
Upon taking office, Kemah addressed a lack of women in leadership by actively promoting gender equality.
Under his leadership, women were appointed to several key executive positions, including executive director for administration, head of HR, director for quality assurance, director for internal audit, head of procurement, and county sector director; establishing a more inclusive, and merit-based organizational culture.
Also, another key achievement witnessed the establishment of the audit recommendation, and implementation unit, responsible to follow up on audit recommendations.
Kemah’s first term was marked by historic regulatory, and technical breakthroughs in public financial oversight.
On June 25, 2026, he formally launched the First-Ever Internal Audit Regulations, operationalizing the IAA Act of 2013, alongside a Public Sector Internal Audit Compliance Checklist, and a National Compliance Scorecard.
To protect revenue, Kemah introduced the embossed IAA Validation Stamp to eliminate duplicate voucher processing, established transitory account reform MoUs with key financial institutions, and launched the ISOFT Audit Management System to automate risk assessments, and audit planning.
These transformative reforms earned national recognition when the IAA was named the 3rd Top-Performing Public Sector Entity under the executive’s performance
Management and Compliance System (PMCS), receiving the 2025 Performance Excellence Award from President Boakai in May 2026.
This re-nomination stands as a testament to the dedicated workforce at the IAA, whose personnel are currently deployed across 97 spending entities and seven counties.
Looking ahead, Mr. Kemah’s second tenure will focus on accelerating digital integration and expanding automated audit processes across the government.
With solid regulatory frameworks, modern oversight tools, and a trained workforce now in place, his continuation promises to reinforce institutional transparency and ensure public institutions fulfill the Agency’s core mantra of doing the right thing in the right way.
