By Ramatoulie Jawo
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) has ordered the Director of Finance at Kuntaur Area Council to refund D198,548.00. The resolution was passed on Monday, September 18, 2023.
“The Director of Finance at Kuntaur Area Council must refund the D198,548.00 claimed to have been used for Monthly Lumo Set-Settal on or before September 28, 2023, failure of which, the Inspector General of Police must launch an investigation immediately and report to FPAC within 90 days,” said FPAC.
Kuntaur Area Council presented its annual activity reports and audited financial statements for 2019 and 2020 to the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC). The committee also noted that the Gambia Public Procurement Authority’s (GPPA) compliance reports for Kuntaur Area Council for the same years are still being drafted.An audit by the Fiscal Policy Analysis Capacity (FPAC) found that an amount of money set aside for the Set-Settal program in the Kuntaur Area Council could not be verified. FPAC’s report stated that “an amount of money was claimed to have been used for Set-Settal; upon verification, it was however confirmed to auditors that no Set-Settal was done.” This suggests that the money may have been misappropriated or misused.