By Kebba Af Touray,Sulayman Bah

Copyright foroyaa

National Assembly’s FPAC Reports

By Kebba AF Touray

The Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) has told Parliament that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) has failed to provide any update on an outstanding imprest amounting to D18,812,661.80, despite repeated resolutions calling for accountability.

The update was presented on Thursday, September 18, 2025, by Hon. Alhagie S. Darboe, Chairperson of FPAC, as part of the committee’s latest report to the National Assembly.

Darboe detailed that the unresolved imprest, stretching from 2007 to April 30, 2025, was spread across multiple categories. These included imprest for holders in the payroll at D4,629,260.80; imprest for holders not on the payroll at D6,670,701.00; deceased imprest holders at D1,695,000.00; imprest holders in the public service but not on payroll at D5,817,500.00; and imprest holders for publication at D13,965,701.00. “Total outstanding imprest of D18,812,661.80,” Darboe said.

FPAC recommended that the OVP provide updates on or before the end of September 2025. But according to Darboe, no update was submitted. “The Office of the Vice President (OVP) did not provide FPAC with any update on the status of this resolution,” he said.

The FPAC reminded Parliament that it had resolved earlier that “all unreconciled government transactions indicated in the audited accounts be reconciled by the Accountant General before the end of the financial year, 2022 and a report sent to the FPAC.”

Darboe noted that the OVP did not provide any feedback on this directive.

Another resolution required the government, through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, to table a revised Public Finance Bill and updated Financial Regulations (2016) before the end of the 2022 financial year. Darboe said: “The draft Bill is still with Cabinet and as such the update remains the same.”

FPAC also resolved that the Auditor General consider invoking powers under section 160(5) of the Constitution, which require that discrepancies of a criminal or fraudulent nature uncovered during audits be reported to the Inspector General of Police. “This is to ensure that all discrepancies of a criminal or fraudulent nature are always reported by NAO to the Inspector General of Police (IGP),” Darboe said, noting that no further action was required in this regard.

The committee also instructed the Auditor General and Accountant General to provide the Assembly with a list of individuals found to have committed fraudulent activities, along with updates on their prosecution or repayments. Again, Darboe told lawmakers, “The Office of the Vice President (OVP) did not provide FPAC with any update on the status of this resolution.”

Despite the lack of cooperation from the OVP, Darboe said the Accountant General’s Department (AGD) had provided updates on several high-profile cases.

He reported that investigations into the Gambia Immigration Department (GID) at the Seaport were completed, with the matter now in court, involving D602,000.

“The Cashier at Brikama Health Centre no longer works with Government of The Gambia but has paid the outstanding balance of D273,674, and that the suspect in the case of Brikama Sub-Treasury no longer works with GoTG and the matter is at the courts involving D6,592,172.50,” he said.

Darboe added that the suspect in the case of the Kerewan Sub-Treasury, involving D2,136,327.60, no longer works with government and the matter remains with the police.

As for the Janjanbureh Sub-Treasury, the suspect was reported deceased, with D521,000 still at issue.

The AGD also reported on the Directorate of National Treasury, where three suspects no longer work with government, one has died, and “the other culprits were prosecuted. The amount involved was D4,064,363.15.”