By: Binta Jaiteh
The Director of the National Audit Office(NAO), Bakary Trawally, has said the BasseArea Council (BsAC) is weak in terms of governance.
“The council is weak in terms of governance with no evidence of a development committee as required by the Local Government Act (2002),” Mr. Trawally told the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) of the National Assembly. He appeared before the committee on Wednesday to present NAO’s findings on the council’s 2019 management letter.
He explained that weak governance implies that the council’s operations will fall almost exclusively in the hands of the executive, addingthat this may result in poor or no oversight, hence poor internal control.
Mr. Trawally said the council, through the General Council, has been urged to assess the current setup and performance of the committees to improve both the design and operation.
“There is no evidence that the sub-committee meets regularly and there is an average of less than one minute per committee for the whole year,” he stated.
According to the NAO boss, the council’sfinance and contracts sub-committees were established but that both are headed by the same person, adding the contract committee did not have any other member other than the chairperson.
“There should then be a constant program in place to ensure the continuous operation at all times. The organization established the internal auditor’s reports to the Chairman but no audit committee is set up at the General Council to facilitate that process. The audit function is also not represented at any of the existing sub-committees,” Trawally pointed out.
He disclosed that BsAC also failed to submit thecouncil’s balance sheet to the auditors for no reason.
“The implication is that there is a risk that information on the financial position of the council will not be available for users to assess the council. This will adversely affect the ability of users to make meaningful decisions based on the financial statements. We recommended that management prepare a balance sheet for its financial position as the Financial Manual for Local Government Authorities may be referredto for guidance,” said Trawally.
Responding to the NAO boss, the Management of BsAC said the council had established thedevelopment committee and that it wasfunctional but due to the poor filing system, minutes cannot be traced for inspection.
