By Omar Bah
The Finance and Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly (FPAC) has revealed that the Office of the Vice President has not yet provided updates on its resolution requiring the Executive Director of the NDMA to account for all undelivered food items valued at over D100 million.
In September of last year, the assembly passed a resolution in response to the auditor general’s report on the government’s COVID-19 expenditures, highlighting “serious irregularities” in managing these funds. The resolution mandated that Dahaba provide an account of all undelivered food items worth over D100 million and address the shortfall in oil delivery amounting to D37,653,700 by September 25, 2023.
The FPAC instructed the NDMA Director General to return the funds to the Accountant General on or before September 25, 2023, and to notify the FPAC accordingly. Should this not occur, the Inspector General of Police must initiate an investigation and report to the FPAC within 90 days. However, in a comment sourced from its reverse report adopted in December 2024, the FPAC noted that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) did not provide any updates concerning the status of this resolution. The Gambia Police Force has informed the FPAC that findings are included in Phase 1 of the investigation and the preliminary report submitted to the OVP.
Furthermore, the FPAC indicated that the OVP has also failed to update them regarding the resolution requiring the Executive Director of the NDMA to account for a shortage in oil deliveries from the International Commodity Insurance, amounting to D37,653,700.00, and to remit the money to the National Treasury by September 25, 2023. The FPAC stated that the police indicated that the findings on this issue were part of Phase 1 of the investigation and that the preliminary report had been submitted to the OVP.
The FPAC has noted that the Office of the Vice President has not yet provided an update regarding its directive for the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health to present the missing payment voucher for the sum of D1,650,000.00 owed to the Auditor General and the FPAC by September 25, 2023. However, the police have informed the FPAC that this query is included in the fourth phase of the ongoing investigations, which will be addressed in due course.
Regarding its resolution that the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health must recover the sum of D1,165,548, an overpayment to COVID-19 frontline workers, and remit this amount to the Accountant General by September 25, 2023, the FPAC has indicated it has not received any updates from the Office of the Vice President. Nevertheless, the police have confirmed that this query will also be part of the fourth phase of the investigations, which will be addressed in due course.
