NA Select Committee Frowns at BAC For Failure to produce a proper financial statements

By Maria Lopes &Fatoumatta Gassama

National Assembly Select Committee on Regional Government and Lands has frowns at Basse Area Council (BAC) by failing to produce proper financial statements before the select committee on Monday.

Honorable Musa Amul Nyassi, Chairman of the National Assembly Select Committee on Regional Government and Lands has told the Basse Area Council that there convergent for today’s sitting was waste of time and resource when the Council fail to produce a proper financial statements.

Nyassi, also a national assembly member for Foni Kansala stressed that this is very obstructive on the Basse area council for not compiling with the financial statements adding that our coming here is a waste of time and resources because the time could be used for other arrangements with other Area Council.

“ We inform them that they are not expected to come and be reminded of what is expected from them has a council we were  expecting that they will come and review the financial statement report ,audit report but that those go further because the key element is missing which is the financial statement,” he noted.

He added that they were not interested in knowing that whether there was a management before but   the current management has the mandatory to prepare those documents before the select committee on region government and Lands before the next sitting will start in March for public hearing.

He urged them to go back and put their house together because they cannot accommodate coming back and take another excuse from the Basse Area council for their wrong doing.

According to the 1997 Constitution of the Gambia Section 110 which says any act of omission that obstruct or impede the national assembly in the performance of its function, which obstruct or impede any member or officer of the national assembly in the discharge of his/her duty, or affords the dignity of the national assembly shall be a contempt of the national assembly.

Momodou L Jaiteh, chief executive officer of Basse Area council said that there were proper handing over but then the former finance director was not conversant with the system which leads to some the difficulties to prepare the statements.

He appealed to the select committee to give them time to go back and prepare their statements because when we came to the office we did not found any proper document on financial report at the Basse Area Council.