Ramatoulie Jawo
Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Centre’s Principal Accountant, Mr. Kebba Darboe, revealed during a session with the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Public Accounts that the center generated a total revenue of D4,697,950 in the year 2020. The government’s subvention for the same year amounted to D36,478,609.73.
Presenting the Auditor General’s Report on the financial statement of the Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Centre for the year under review, Mr. Serign Mass Jallow from the National Audit Office (NAO) stated that during their examination of the financial statement, they observed a negative variance of GMD3,703,070 between the adverse closing cash balance of GMD1,196,879 on the Statement of Receipts and Payments and the amount of GMD2,506,191 reported in Note 28 of Sheikh Zayed’s financial statement.
Mr. Jallow informed the committee that the breakdown of the figure in Note 28 was not provided, making it impossible for them to determine which of the two balances is accurate.
“The breakdown of the figure in Note 28 was not presented, therefore we could not establish which of the two balances is accurate,” he told the committee.
He stated that an unprecedented number of payment vouchers, totaling GMD 37,802,761, were documented in the financial statement. Nevertheless, he pointed out that 12 payment vouchers amounting to GMD 160,850, selected for review, were not provided for examination.
“However, 12 payment vouchers totaling GMD160,850, from the sample selected were not presented for our review,” he said
He further mentioned that they couldn’t ascertain whether the payments had proper authorization, approval, and certification for payment, along with sufficient documentation. Additionally, he highlighted the importance of accurate classification and ensuring that the payments are free from material discrepancies.
Regarding the issue of “Unverifiable Cashbook Postings and Bank Lodgements,” the financial statement acknowledged receipts totaling GMD38,879,309 for Subvention and Other Income. However, there were two other income receipt transactions, amounting to GMD324,601, which represented 0.83% of the receipts. Although these transactions were recorded in the receipt books, the verification of lodgements into the bank account was challenging due to the unavailability of bank statements, as explained by him.
“Unverifiable Cashbook Postings and Bank Lodgements the Centre recognized receipts totaling GMD38,879,309 Subvention and Other Income in the financial statement. However, two other income receipt transactions amounting to GMD324,601, representing 0.83% of the receipts were received as per the receipt books, but we could not confirm the lodgements into the bank account due to the absence of the bank statements,” he said.