By Omar Bah
The Gambia Government has come under serious criticism over attempts of officials to squander D32,952,954.45 million through false claims.
The department of internal audit 2020 report highlighted how it managed to save the country from losing over D32M through its pre-audit exercise.
According to the report, the Internal Audit was able to make these savings through cancelation of payment vouchers for “not complying with payment requirements and GPPA regulations”.
The auditors said the Office of the President on 4 May 2020 requested for the payment of D1,158,791.41 to Petrogas for fuel excess for the president’s meet the people tour without evidence to substantiate excess fuel used during the tour.
According to the auditors in the same office, one Momodou E Njie and Roheyah Jeng Gaye also requested to be paid D130, 280.00 per diem each for attending an IRO program which was fully funded by the organisers. The requests were refused by Interal Audit.
The report further highlighted that in November 2020, the Office of the First Lady requested D227,990.00 per diem for the same IRO program which was also rejected.
The audit report also said Gamtel on 7 July requested a refund of D59, 250.00 telecommunication services which was never provided.
On 26 June 2020, the Office of the Vice President requested D1,228,680 [50%] for maintenance of the building without seeking GPPA approval despite advice to do so.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 25 March 2019 requested a refund of school fees for staff studying in China amounting to D75,550.00 which was also rejected and auditors later uncovered that the breakdown and composition of the school fees included line items that should not be borne by the state because the Foreign Service Regulations catered for tuition fees only.
In the same year, MoFA requested a per diem of D174,888.00 for its officials in relation to the annual pilgrimage to Mecca but the auditors questioned the genuineness and stopped the payment as their trip was not official.
The Ministry of Health on 23 April, the auditors added, requested payment of D51,070.00 for overseas medical treatment (allowance refund) without producing a medical board report.
The Ministry of Finance on 15 April 2020 spent D18,000,000 on State Owned Enterprise Restructuring which was later uncovered to be fraudulent duplication of disbursement.
According to the auditors last year, the Gambia Ports Authority claimed to be refunded D1,849,932.00 they spent on the Senegambia bridge by Ferries which was not substantiated.
Reactions
Reacting to the Internal Audit findings, the founder and executive director of Gambia Participates, Marr Nyang said: “It is unbelievable but not surprising that mismanagement of public wealth and trust is coming from the highest office of the land. Left to these gangs alone, they will rip off the country to the last dalasi to self-enrich themselves”.
“Some of these claims are unjustifiable and it only shows how the people we entrust with power and authority to run our affairs are selfish and greedy. The Internal Audit Directorate did a great job by rejecting these unjustifiable claims. However, the work of the directorate will be compromised due to their lack of independence,” Nyang added.
This, he added, “is why it is urgent, more than ever before, for there to be an Act of Parliament that will establish an independent Internal Audit Directorate that will as well double as an Independent Financial Institution to monitor and report on government expenditure which will minimize public heist as it is currently the case in the public sector.”
A social and political commentator, Pa Samba Jaw, said: “We must commend the Internal Audit Directorate for their due diligence in rejecting this blatant abuse of the system. It is absolutely sad and unfortunate that while the majority of our people continue to live in abject poverty, that some officials are deliberately milking the system to satisfy their insatiable greed”.
“It is an irrefutable fact that per diem hunting has become the surest way to ‘legally’ defraud the nation. The system has run amok-it is broken and needs to be addressed. But unless there is unalloyed political will to prosecute corrupt officials, this phenomenon will continue to retard our country’s much needed development.,” he said.
