As the Gambia gears for a massive Independence celebration to cost millions, EFSCRJ hereby raises deep concerns at the incidence of widespread mismanagement of public funds, corruption, and abuse of office by public institutions and officials. These concerns are informed by the Government of the Gambia 2020 Audit Report produced by the National Audit Office (NAO).
According to Section 160 of the Constitution, the Auditor General should audit the accounts of all public offices, to determine that the use of funds complied with the budget approved by the National Assembly, and that the management of the funds was done in line with relevant laws and standards. We are concerned that the NAO has concluded that there is a high risk of mismanagement of public accounts and funds in 2020. We are also concerned that Government accounts from 2021 to 2024 have not been audited in total violation of the Constitution. The NAO, National Assembly and the President bear primary responsibility for this constitutional violation.
In the 2020 Audit Report, we are shocked with dismay at the extent of inefficiency, mismanagement and corruption in it. We have noted the following:
- The lack of transparency where financial statements are mis-stated leading to the understatement of millions of dalasi in various accounts. For example, an unidentified amount of over D131 million dalasi could not be linked to the financial statements of Government. Similarly, there have been several violations of the Financial Regulations in terms of virements to create new positions amounting to over D79 million.
- There were also lot of virement of tens of millions of dalasi without the Finance minister’s approval. There have been instances where books do not tally thereby showing millions of differences between accounts. The incidence of bank withdrawals of over D1.9 million through cheques which were declared cancelled by IFMIS.
- Auditors could not confirm the details of compensation paid to the 2018 Faraba Bantang victims amounting to over D18 million. The necessary pieces of information were absent to verify recipients. No information system to monitor and notify the Accountant General of retirement dates of civil servants. At the same time, the Report indicates the failure of Government to pay in full to SSHFC for injury compensation for civil servants.
- Instances of single sourcing amounting to over half a million dalasi, while invoices were received even before request for quotations were made. Meanwhile supporting documents were not presented for capital expenditures amounting to over D1.5 billion.
- Discrepancies between money collected and bank statements totaling over tens of thousands of dalasi. Lack of supporting documentation from both the Geology Department and Fisheries Department about the revenue they collected running into over D5 million. Failure to present the full documentation on the sale of assets by the Janneh Commission totaling over D706 million. Documents presented only show D40 million in sales. Meanwhile, Gamtel owes over D11 million arrears to Gateway funds in 2020, indicating the risk of outstanding balance not recovered.
- Imprest amounting to over D2 million dalasi were disbursed to various ministries and departments without the approval of the Permanent Secretary, MoFEA. This raises questions about the legitimacy and legality of these payments.
- There have been several instances of mismanagement, inefficiency and fraud recorded. These include the poor monitoring of budget execution in which over D46 million could be lost which should be going to the delivery of social services for our people. The misclassification of loans repayments totaling over D108 million. This means the foreign debt service is overstated leading to high cost on the budget. The misuse of contingency funds amounting to over D474 million when there was no unforeseen or urgent emergency to justify the use of these funds. Provision of wrong or missing information regarding loans and public debt. This shows weak internal controls as well as lack of consultation and transparency. Instances of non-payment of loans that the government gave to SOEs. During the period under review, both GCAA and Gamtel were given loans of over D1.7 billion that they failed to pay.
- The ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs have both failed to provide information on the grants they received. NAO wrote to them but both ministries ignored to respond. Similarly, the Ministry of Fisheries failed to fully quantify and disclose losses of public money in the fire incident at their office in 2019. Also, MoFEA has failed to create a Borrowing Plan as required by the Public Finance Act. This is necessary to guide and manage effectively with transparency the situation of both domestic and external borrowing hence ensure effective forecasting of cash inflows and outflows.
These cases highlight poor management, inefficiency and corruption for which the Auditor General said public accounts face ‘High Risk’.
We call on the National Assembly and the President, as the primary responsible parties to ensure that there is full transparency and accountability for these serious anomalies.
You can see and read a summary of the audit report on our social media platforms. We thank Gambia Participates in its work with the National Audit Office to produce a simplified and user-friendly version of the 2020 Audit Report – https://nao.gm/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GoTG-2020-Summarised-Audit-Report-.pdf).