By Binta Jaiteh
Honourable Assan Touray, the National Assembly member for Bakau aggrievedly said that the report of the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) exposed the incompetence and malpractice in our public finance and public institutions since the anti-corruption bill is yet to be tabled before the assembly.
During the debate among members of the FPAC, the Vice-chairperson noted that he asked where ‘we are as a nation.’ According to the findings and observations from 2016 to 2018, the report disclosed that the government lost track of the total sum of over D15 billion due to improper consolidation of government accounts these lapses are due to inefficiency and corrupt practices of public finance.
This is not about politics but the Gambia “because when the country sinks we will all sink as a nation this report is not a witchhunt to any party,”
He noted that they have assigned a committee to do the investigations of which they all entrusted responsibilities to members.
However, he warned the members that if anyone goes against this report it seems the person is encouraging corruption and he doesn’t want to be part of this assembly that goes against the report. The recommendations need to be implemented with immediate effect, he urged.
Honourable Samba Jallow NA member for Niamina Dankungku also said if the committee reports are presented in the assembly it comes with recommendations and the recommendations are derived from the issues during the hearing. The important thing is the implementation if they are not what the importance of the committee’s report is. The recommendations are meant to assist the institution in improving and “I think we should change our reporting format so that when we have our recommendations they will be accompanied with a strong resolution for a recommendation,” he added.
Honourable Allagie Mbow, vice-chairperson of the FPAC committee pointed out that as dictated by prevailing global circumstances, the Gambia was required to deal with and respond to the global pandemic of COVID-19 as a result the government redirected its meager resources to fund the GMD750 million package for the health response and relief of social and economic distress caused by COV1D-19. He stated
In his presentation, he said this audit covered the procurement and distribution of medical items recording and distribution of donated medical items within the Greater Banjul Area and West Coast Region, through the stakeholders like the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Health. He added that the government prepared a Supplementary Appropriation Bill and Virements to finance the health sector.
Notwithstanding this amounted to a whopping GMD750 million from the budget the MOH performed procurement and distribution of medical items amounting to GMD23 Million ( 3.1) of the GLF fund.
