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Momodou
Denmark
11786 Posts |
 Posted - 06 Apr 2010 : 18:28:03
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16 Years of Financial Mess Unveiled Finance Minister Says "No Im......"
By Saikou Jammeh
Alarming revelations of financial mess-up carried out in The Gambia from 1991 to 2006 was on Wednesday unveiled at the National Assembly, as Finance Minister sought the approval of deputies to adopt adjustments on the financial statements of these periods.
Minister Momodou Foon said the re-stated balances as at 31st December 2006 will be adopted as pending balances for the financial year 2007, and the net effect to the adjustment on accounts will result to a credit adjustment of D93, 149, 563. 38 (Ninety Three million, one hundred and forty nine thousand, five hundred and sixty three dalasis) to the consolidated revenue fund.
This scenario came hard on the heels of the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee’s recommendation for "clearing the backlog of unaudited accounts" inorder for government to have credible financial statements with effect from 2007. The exercise, according to the Finance Minister, was done in collaboration with the National Audit Office and approved by the Cabinet.
The Minister said the financial statements within the period are inaccurate and incredible, thus the restatement will henceforth provide accurate and timely financial statements.
Though Members overwhelmingly voted-in for the adjustments, many have expressed dismay over the degree of economic mismanagement. "With such things you tend to ask yourself where is the acclaimed transparency and accountability," said Babanding K. Daffeh of Kiang Central.
The Majority Leader, Fabakary Tombong Jatta said this could make it hard for the Gambia to source funds. He urged for the avoidance of re-occurrence. The minister however said that despite the write-off, there would be no impunity and any suspected offender would face the law.
Meanwhile, the Auditor General’s Report says the overall government accounting system up to 2006 was "inadequate" as there were poor control systems, inadequate document retention and high staff turnover, which led government to lose track of her assets and liabilities. The Auditor General says inadequate reconciliation of embassy cashbooks to bank accounts held, meant the cashbook balances carried in the financial statements up to 2006 were incorrect.
D250, 000, 000 Omitted from Balance Sheet
Though the Ministry and Central Bank have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, the report says the working of the MoU is unclear and scanty. And he identified during his audit that a government bond held by Central Bank for an amount of D250, 000, 000 was incorrectly omitted from the restated balance sheet. The documentation of this bond, which he said dates back to 1994, is not held either by the ministry or Central Bank… thus expressing concern that relevant documents to support such a large bond could not be traced either at Central Bank or within government.Government has Significant External Debt Liabilities
It was also revealed that the government has significant external debt liabilities which until now, were not presented in financial statements. And disclosure of domestic debt was imperfect "as creditor arrears and some other domestic loans were not included". The Report said it has been an ongoing problem for the government to identify all projects and other bank accounts held by budget entities and agencies." And during audit, a number of bank accounts not included in the restatement were identified.
Freezing of Government Accounts
The auditor’s report said though Treasury Directorate then requested a list from central bank of signatories for all government bank accounts, a sum of D31, 532, 835.60 represents bank accounts for which signatories are not available. He urged the ministry to demand for the freezing of such accounts until their status can be determined within six months and be closed and funds be transferred to the treasury’s main account after the six months elapse.
He said Government has failed to transfer the residual amount of D1, 099, 236.62 new treasury bank account from old treasury main account, and he received no confirmation that the old treasury is closed. Rather, he said the money which should be used for general government expenditure, is deposited in Special Deposit Account on 14 January 2009.
Fraud was Identified
He calls for probe transaction processed through the old treasury account since January 2007, "because the account is prone to fraud". Infact according to him, there has been a reduction of D78, 697, 847.99 in the balance between January 2007 to 2009 and he was not provided with any bank statement for audit and no explanation given to him.
And a fraud of D4, 014, 474 was identified leaving an amount of D75, 782, 610.61 unexplained. He warned that inaction to close the old treasury account represents a major control failure and is of serious concern.
Capacity Dearth at Treasury Directorate
He also blamed the misconduct on capacity dearth at Treasury Directorate to produce reliable financial statements. He added that there has been no effective internal audit unit within government, adding that the main challenge he faced in auditing the financial transaction of government was obtaining adequate supporting documentation.
"Majority of self accounting projects do not currently submit their accounting returns to treasury directorate. As such, it is currently impossible for these transactions to be included within the consolidated financial statements of government," he said. "Government currently holds a number of investments in public enterprises and international bodies, which are not disclosed. An exercise should be conducted to identify such investments for inclusion in the government financial statements."
Source: Dailynews
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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kaanibaa
United Kingdom
1169 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2010 : 22:35:51
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| My tenkeremess what a mess ! This "misgovernment" cannot be serious it should just pack up and go period now! How can they talk about accountability when all these gigantic sums have either vanished are left unaccounted for over the period of time that they were in charge of state coffers, beats me. |
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Santanfara
3460 Posts |
Posted - 07 Apr 2010 : 12:02:24
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| Kaani, there are many more holes. When it all erupt, Jammeh will start selling his enormous waranbas. |
Surah- Ar-Rum 30-22
"And among His signs is the creation of heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. verily, in that are indeed signs for men of sound knowledge." Qu'ran
www.suntoumana.blogspot.com |
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Momodou
Denmark
11786 Posts |
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| Bantaba in Cyberspace |
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