By Omar Bah
The Gambia International Airline (GIA) has reportedly spent over D3 million on a Mitsubishi Pajero GLX without following procurement processes according to Accord Associate, an independent audit firm which audited the agency.
“We observed that a motor vehicle (Mitsubishi Pajero GLX (BJ 5570 51) bought for the Managing Director at a cost of D3,493.333 from TK Motors Limited, did not pass through the procurement department and GPPA’s system,” Omar K. Jallow, a representative of the audit firm told the National Assembly Finance and Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday.
The private audit firm official added that the issue was observed during the firm’s audit of the fixed assets additions of the institution.
He added that the receipt and delivery note from the supplier were not attached on the payment voucher.
The Accord Associate representative said that they also noticed that the new vehicle was acquired in a part-exchange transaction with the Managing Director’s existing car,but there was no independent valuation report to determine the fair value of the old vehicle.
He revealed that the value used in the exchange was based on the recorded net book value of D1, 493, 333.
“The lack of compliance with the GPPA guideline is a violation of the GPPA Act, while the lack of involvement of the GIA procurement unit indicates weakness in the application of the company’s internal control,” Jallow said.
Accord Associate recommended for the GIA management to ensure that all the acquisition of the assets that are relevant to the approval of GPPA and requires the involvement of the procurement unit, pass through the appropriate units to attain the required compliance.
