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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
 Posted - 04 Feb 2014 : 22:36:24
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1. National Audit chief laments staff attrition at institution
 Auditor General Karamba Touray presenting report to Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
The auditor general of the National Audit Office (NAO) has told members of the Public Accounts and Public Enterprises Committees (PAC/PEC) of the National Assembly that his institution has been facing many challenges confronting its smooth operation, pointing out retention of professional staff as a major problem.
Speaking recently while tabling his institution’s annual activity report for the year 2012, Karamba Touray disclosed that currently, a total of 28 vacancies are available at the Office. Fifteen of these, he said, are to be filled by qualified personnel whilst 13 are reserved for the recruitment of new intakes. But he lamented that the vacancies have hampered the effective operations of the country’s Audit Office.
“Three of the four directors of Audit posts are vacant, which is a particular problem for me because these should have been the key people to assist in planning and overseeing the work of the National Audit Office,” he stressed.
Touray also highlighted the responsibilities of the auditor general, informing members that it has a role to provide independence assurance to the National Assembly that public sector entities are operating fairly, appropriately and that their financial statements are complete and accurate.
“Regular audited financial statements are a very key element of good accountability and transparency in government,” he said.......
Source: Daily Observer News & more full report
2.To be noted that; following Karamba Touray's presentation of The National Audit Office as reported by Daily Observer; describing him "National Audit Chief" confirms certain facts covered under Point 3. below; especially that his predecessor former Auditor General Babucarr Sanakareh was indeed fired by Jammeh (officially unannounced and left open for speculation) and that Karamba Touray is fully in charge running The National Audit Office as Auditor General. There is no official sources to confirm removal of his predecessor and stating reasons for removing him as Auditor General; in line with The Constitution. Foroyaa covered an Editorial: Published on Sunday, 16 June 2013 for "WHY IS THE AUDITOR GENERAL NOT IN OFFICE? THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOT TO EXPLAIN"; which was last update for related Bantaba Gambian politics topic under Point 3. below
3. Related Bantaba Gambian politics topic Auditor General Babucarr Sankareh fired by Jammeh
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Edited by - kobo on 04 Feb 2014 22:51:43 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 27 Feb 2014 : 23:51:33
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1. Auditor General reports on Government finances
 Finance Minister Kebba Touray
Thursday, February 27, 2014
A joint session of the Public Accounts and Public Enterprises Committees of the National Assembly on Wednesday received the reports of the Auditor General on the audit of the financial statements of the Gambia government, for 2009 and 2010.
The auditor general’s reports were presented to the PAC/PEC by the permanent secretary at the ministry of Finance in Banjul, Abdoulie Jallow.
Jallow told the PAC/PEC members that an audit of the financial statements of the Gambia government for the financial years 2009 and 2010 was conducted.......
Source: The Point News & more full report
2. INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS TO BE NOTED:
"The auditor general’s reports were presented to the PAC/PEC by the permanent secretary at the ministry of Finance in Banjul, Abdoulie Jallow"; instead of The Accountant General and/or Auditor General, Karamba Touray. However Finance & Audit Act apply.
"An audit of the financial statements of the Gambia government for the financial years 2009 and 2010 was conducted"; with 3 more financial years; 2010/2011, 2011/2012, 2012/2013 outstanding not yet covered on Gambia government financial statements (i.e. for those outstanding years the Accountant General has to prepare for specific financial period Governments Financial Statements for audit by The Auditor General).
This news report hasn't disclose much on flaws, impropriety, losses, irregularities, misappropriations, fraud, weaknesses and proper financial management controls, among other management issues addressed. The Auditor General's report appraised these government financial statements and a report must be presented. |
Edited by - kobo on 28 Feb 2014 23:07:12 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 28 Feb 2014 : 23:02:28
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1. To audit financial statements of gov’t is a critical task -Auditor General tells Legislative Scrutiny session
Friday, February 28, 2014
The auditor general of The Gambia has told members of the Public Accounts and Public Enterprises Committees (PAC/PEC) of the National Assembly that the “audit exercise of the financial statements of government is a critical task in its accountability arrangements.” Such, he pointed out, indicates the “degree of acceptance of good governance practices” and “affects the credibility of the government in general”.
Karamba Touray was speaking Wednesday while presenting the audit of the financial statements of The Gambia government for the period 2009-2010. He reminded members that the report is submitted in compliance with Section 160 (1) (c) of the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia, which requires the auditor-general, at least once every year, to audit and report on the public accounts of The Gambia – the accounts of all offices and authorities of the government, the accounts of the courts, the accounts of the National Assembly and the accounts of all public enterprises.
“Section 160(1) (d) of the constitution requires the auditor-general to report to the National Assembly on the accounts of The Gambia government and to draw attention to any irregularities in the accounts audited and to any other matter, which in the auditor general’s opinion, ought to be brought to the notice of the National Assembly. Section 160(1) (e) requires the auditor general to publish for public information an annual report on accounts once it has been discussed in the National Assembly,” he reminded the members.......
SOURCE:Daily Observer & full report
2. Auditor General Presents Report for 2009 and 2010 Points out weaknesses in controls
Published on Friday, 28 February 2014 | Written by Muhammad Bah & Amie Bah
The Pubic Account and Public Enterprise Committees of the National Assembly received the report from the Auditor General’s office which report points out weaknesses in controls and unreconciled payments of more than 100 million dalasis. The Auditor General, Mr Karamba Touray, while presenting his report before the PAC/PEC committee for the years 2009 and 2010, said the auditing of Government of The Gambia Financial Statements for the periods ending 31 December 2009 and 2010 shows weaknesses in controls which need urgent attention.
Mr. Touray said payment vouchers amounting to D109 million for the year ended 2009 and payment vouchers amounting to D16 million for the year ended 2010 were not presented for audit up to the time of finalizing this report. He bemoans the un-presented Payment vouchers for audit verification and said it casts doubt on whether those payments were genuine.
External Auditor Touray noted that payment vouchers amounting to D4 million for the year ended 2009 and 80 payment vouchers totaling D8 million for year ended 2010 had one invoice attached as opposed to the three quotations required by the GPPA.
He said this is a breach of the established procurement guidelines for Payment vouchers lacking adequate supporting documents.
He further noted that it is observed that 86 payments amounting to D6 million for the year ended 2010 and 280 payments amounting to D76 million year 2009 were made without adequate documentation being attached to the payment vouchers.
He added this is a control weakness and if not addressed may lead to fraud and other irregularities.
Mr. Touray continued and said the verification of the payment vouchers for the year ended 2009, that the audit department noted that 9 payment vouchers amounting to four thousand dalasi and 10 payment vouchers totaling D410 thousand had no supporting documentation attached.
He said this is in contradiction to the dictates of the financial instructions. He threw light on payment vouchers amounting to D100 thousand for the year ended 31 December 2009 and payment vouchers amounting to D2 million for the year ended 31 December 2010. He said payment is made to different individuals whose names are listed on the voucher attachment list but none of the recipients signed the signature list, as evidence of receiving the said amounts. He stressed that there is a risk that individuals whose names are on the list may not have actually received the claimed sums and that these monies may have been misappropriated. He further referred to the accounts of self accounting projects which he said has continuously been omitted from the consolidated government financial statements over the years.
He said the Auditors Department is concerned about the non inclusion of self accounting projects in the financial statements. Touray opined that the exclusion of development expenditures of self accounting projects will make the financial statement of the government incomplete and could limit the ability to provide adequate information to meet information requirements of users.
He said during the audit outstanding imprest balances were D38 million and D69 million for the financial year ended 31 December 2009 and 31 December 2010 respectively.
He dilated on the risk of officials using impress beyond the due date of retirement as unauthorized loans to themselves, which he said could negatively affect the cash flow position of the Government.
He said the review of payment vouchers showed an amount of over D66 million is made to Gambia International Airline (GIA) to pre-finance 2009 Hajj. He said this money was promised to be refunded after the Hajj season.
He said GIA repaid D45 million leaving an outstanding balance of D21 Million up to the conclusion of this audit. He said there is a risk that this money might never be refunded if proper follow up is not made by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.
This, he said, ‘leads to financial loss to government’. He said during the period of audit, it is noted that an amount of D17 million was held in various commercial banks but was not disclosed in the financial statement for the year ending 31 December 2009 and 2010.
He informs that the total bank balances included in the 2009 and 2010 financial statements have been understated. He said that Government sold some of the vehicles that were used during the African Union summit hosted by The Gambia in 2006. He said the rest of the vehicles were provided to senior government officials on loan. He said the agreement is Payment to be deducted from their salaries. However, there is no mechanism in place to monitor the repayments, he said.
NAMS’ REACTION
Hon. Sulayman Joof, member for Serrekunda West commended the Auditor General and his team for a job well done. He said the office has carried out its mandate by auditing effectively various public institutions. He made reference to the outstanding balances reported by the auditor general.
Hon. Alhagie Sillah, member for Banjul North, said if there is to be growth ‘institutions have to follow the rules put in place particularly the procurement and auditing ones.’ He called for an urgent reconciliation of the balances mentioned.
Hon. Samba Jallow, Member for Niamina East and Minority Leader said, he is disappointed with how tax payers’ monies are being managed by Central government ministries. He said he has discovered that when money is spent, it is not documented. He bemoans the un-availability or lack of presentation of payment vouchers. On a more serious note, the minority leader questioned the transparency of the present government. He asked: “What is the transparency all about?” He further opined that this signifies there are lots of monies that are mismanaged. He bemoans “the ministry’s denial of information necessary for auditing to the Auditor’s office.” He said he understood that even the Central Government is not abiding by the GPPA rules and asked: how about those small public institutions?
The subject matter specialist in PAC/PEC Alhajie T.S Njie, said over 100 million dalasis outstanding is not a small amount to be dismissed especially in this time. He said they should toil on how to reconcile this balance. He said this has taken a long period since 2008. He also threw light on the Gamcel/Gamtel issue and said there no documentation and asked why.
SOURCE:Foroyaa Burning Issues News |
Edited by - kobo on 28 Feb 2014 23:07:29 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 25 Mar 2014 : 01:40:00
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THE PUBLIC IS ENTITLED TO EACH AUDITOR GENERAL’S REPORT WHEN CHECKS AND BALANCES ARE WEAK ACCOUTABILITY BECOMES THE CASUALTY
Published on Tuesday, 18 March 2014 | Written by Ousman Njie
Security of tenure has been a problem of the office of Auditor General. Two Auditor generals have been removed. The constitution recognises the sensitive position of the Auditor general. Hence it states under Section 160 Subsection (7) that “In the exercise of his or her functions under this Constitution or any law, the Auditor General shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority."
In terms of tenure Section 158 subsection (5) adds that “ A person holding the office of Auditor General may be removed from office only for inability to perform the functions of his or her office (whether from infirmity of mind or body or from any other cause) or for misbehaviour or incompetence.”
This should have been followed by an amendment which requires a tribunal to be convened to determine the validity of any allegation.
What is however of interest to Foroyaa is the mandate given to the Auditor General and the need to explain what the obstacles are to their fulfilment.
Section 160 states among other things that “The Auditor General shall-
(c) at least once in every year audit and report on the public accounts of The Gambia, the accounts of all offices and authorities of the Government of The Gambia, the accounts of the courts, the accounts of the National assembly and the accounts of all enterprises;
(d) within six months of the end of the immediately preceding financial year to which each of the accounts referred to in paragraph
(c) relates, report to the National Assembly on the accounts and draw attention to any irregularities in the accounts audited and to any other matter which, in his or her opinion, ought to be brought to the notice of the National assembly;
(e) after his or her annual reports on the accounts of the Government of The Gambia, of all offices and authorities of the Government, of the courts and of the National Assembly have been discussed in the National Assembly, cause the same to be published for public information:
Provided that where there is any undue delay in the discussion of any such accounts in the National Assembly, the Auditor General may publish his or her report in advance of such discussion; “ This is how independent and accountable to the public the Auditor General is expected to be.
However, it is interesting to note that the last report submitted to the National Assembly covers 2009 and 2010. This office is the heart of the accountability system of the country and needs to be given all it needs to meet the requirements of the constitution.
Source: Foroyaa News Editorial |
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Karamba Touray Auditor General PAC Report 2014
