By Omar Bah
The newly appointed board chairman of the board at the Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation (GPPC), Dr Alieu O Faal, has written to the State-Owned Enterprises Commission requesting a forensic audit of the corporation’s financial dealings, amid concerns regarding lack of financial accountability and transparency within the corporation.
In a writeup seen by The Standard, Dr. Faal emphasised the necessity for a thorough investigation to ensure public trust and effective management of resources, highlighting the importance of adherence to financial regulations and oversight mechanisms in public institutions.
Dr Faal alleged that the corporation’s finances are so depleted that every month they have to negotiate for overdrafts before staff salaries are paid or outstanding supplier invoices are settled.
“Most of the time salaries are paid a week or two after the end of the month. The December salaries were paid on New Year’s Eve,” he added.
He further alleged that the corporation has collected a whopping D33 million income tax deducted from staff salaries and accumulated VAT payments to GRA that has not been paid to the Authority.
“The GPPC owes SSHFC over D12 million for over five years, thus violating the legal requirements to pay tax and staff pensions in a timely manner. Also, major procurement of goods and services was made without any approval from the board or done in contravention of the GPPA regulations,” he alleged.
Dr Faal further alleged that the GPPC Managing Director, Momodou Ceesay, is operating a company, Jessakono Enterprises, registered in the name of his elder brother, Habib Ceesay, where almost all the procurement for printing materials is done.
“The MD is a signatory to the bank account of this business. Another business named Jega Enterprise has been supplying very expensive printing machines that are of low quality without following any procurement rules. Millions of taxpayers’ money is being wasted on reckless purchases without following due process,” Dr Faal alleged.
Dr Faal also alleged that the corporation entered into an unapproved subcontracting agreement with Ahmadiyya Muslim Printing Press at Tallinding for D30,000,000 to print textbooks for the secondary schools without the necessary clearance from the board.
“An amount of D30 million was paid without a contract or approval from the board. Bank loans worth over D12 million were taken from the Mega Bank without being referred to the SOEC or the ministry of finance as required by law. The MD also negotiated a loan of D26 million with Mega Bank to buy a full-line printing machine and mortgaged the title deed of the corporation for this loan. The machine has never been purchased, and the loan is being serviced monthly,” he alleged.
He disclosed that MD Ceesay allegedly appointed a Greek national, Mr Spiros, as a technical assistant without the necessary approval from the board.
“The MD appointed the man and has already paid him more than D200,000 for one month only using a ‘false name’ to make the payment,” he alleged.
Chairman Faal alleged that the corporation a few years ago made a payment of D3 million to Graf Group in Turkey and D5 million to Procurvis International of the UK for the supply of papers and boards, but the supply has never come.
“The suppliers have refused to refund the money, and it’s been three years,” he said.
According to Dr Faal, he made the request to the SOE Commission ordering a forensic audit to clear the air and give him a clean start with immediate effect. “Some members of the board acting in complicity with the MD have decided to use delaying tactics to stop the special audit by secretly writing to the SOE Commission to stop the audit without informing the board chairman,” he added. Mr Faal said as new board chairman he has the right to order for a special audit in the interest of public accountability. The new board chaiman said he has all the evidence which can be validated by any auditing.
SOE Commission’s take
In a letter addressed to the board, the SOE Commission said: “We acknowledged receipt of your letter signed by the Board members on 20th and 24th December 2024 indicating your disassociation to the letter submitted by the Board Chairperson of GPPC, Dr Alieu Faal, requesting a forensic audit to be conducted at the Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation (GPPC).
“As an oversight institution, and in our stride to bring sanity into the SOEs, we take allegations of irregularities very seriously, as maintaining transparency and integrity in our governance and financial procedures is of utmost importance to the SOEC. With regards to this issue, the SOEC would advise the board to have an extraordinary board meeting and then communicate to the SOEC the resolution made at that meeting prior to our engagement on the matter, which date and time would be communicated after your internal meeting and communication on the resolution,” it added.
GPPC MD reacts
When contacted for comments, the GPPC managing director, Momodou Ceesay, said the “allegations” are false.
“I know that the Board chair made some allegations and shared them with the SOE Commission and requested that they launch an inquiry into the corporation’s finances. The commission has written to us, but as far as the Board and Management of GPPC are concerned, we are not aware of any situation that warrants that. At the moment the directors are taking that up with the SOE Commission,” he said.
