By Tabora Bojang
The auditor general’s report on the accounts and financial statements of the government for the year 2024, indicated that a total of D64,666, 881.00 was spent on the Meet The Peoples Tour, despite only D30 million been approved by the National Assembly for that year.
In 2023, lawmakers approved the budget for the tour from D10 million to D30 million following a tense vote with 26 members voting to support the increase while 15 others mainly comprising opposition NAMs voted against it.
However, the 2024 audit report published by the National Audit Office last Friday revealed that the government actually spent D64, 666,881 on the tour.
This means the tour exceeded its budgetary allocation by D34, 666,881.
Reacting to this development, the opposition UDP’s Brikama South lawmaker Lamin J Sanneh, said: “If parliament approves a budget, it is a law, and if that budget is overspent it means they have crossed the boundary. In a normal setting, the finance minister needs to be called and asked how they end up spending over D60 million when we only approved D30 million. He needs to give us an execution rate. How much was given to them to embark on the tour and how much they ended up spending and where do they get the additional money from,” Sanneh stated.
He lamented that the National Assembly has not been effective when it comes to budget oversight and monitoring to ensure the government spends within the remits.
Sanneh observed that the Assembly needs to put in measures to ensure approved budget lines are regularly monitored and reviewed to avoid over expenditure by government institutions.
