Banjul, The Gambia: September 21, 2024
The Auditor General (AG) would like to address the recent publication in your medium regarding a petition reported to be submitted to the National Assembly, alleging professional misconduct within the National Audit Office (NAO) leadership and raising various issues.
First and foremost, it should be clarified that neither the NAO leadership nor its communication unit was contacted or received a request for information related to the research claimed by the petitioner.
To provide accurate information on the alleged issues, the AG wants to notify the public that the NAO and the functions of the AG, as stipulated by the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia, play a significant role in the country’s accountability cycle. This is achieved through external audits to provide assurance on the use of public funds and by reporting audit findings to parliament for oversight (discussion and action).
In addition to domestic legislation, the NAO, as a Supreme Audit Institution of The Gambia, is a member of international and regional audit bodies such as the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), the African Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI), and the African Organisation of English-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI-E). These bodies support Supreme Audit Institutions through technical capacity training to enhance their institutional capacities for public sector auditing.
Since gaining autonomous status in December 2015 through the enactment of the NAO Act 2015 by the National Assembly, the NAO has undergone significant strategic reforms, which led to prioritizing the professionalization of staff, strengthening bilateral relations and Technical Assistance from other sister SAIs that have advanced in public sector auditing such as Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, etc, as well as expanding the audit scope to cover emerging areas such as performance audits, forensics, and information systems audits, etc.
These strategic reforms are essential to enhance the institutional capacity of the NAO, ensuring its relevance and improving service delivery to the Gambian people. The NAO upholds the fundamental principles of INTOSAI P12: the Value and Benefits of SAIs in making a difference to the lives of citizens –and thrives to be a model institution through leading by example. This is demonstrated by our active social media presence to keep the public informed about developments, engagements, audit report submissions, and publication notices.
Regarding the travel to the U.S. for a conference on internal audit, the conference was attended by the AG and NAO’s Senior Internal Audit Manager – NAO like any other public institution has an internal audit unit as part of its governance structure. It is important to note that the NAO officials paid the lowest participation fee of $1,685 compared to other public institutions that paid $2,565. The AG had a meeting with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) during this trip as part of collaborative talks that began in May during the AFROSAI-E Governing board meeting of AGs in Uganda. The purpose of the meeting was highlighted on our social media and has led to the AG meeting with the U.S. Ambassador to explore opportunities for support from the GAO and the U.S. Embassy. The allegations about payment of per diem for vacation days are false, and there is evidence to show that the AG used his funds for the 5 days of leave he took.
The appointment of the two directors followed NAO’s recruitment process led by a recruitment committee, which submits its recommendations to the AG after conducting interviews, assessments, etc. Yamundow Gai’s application was received before the GRTS audit and as a result, her offer of appointment was only released after the report on GRTS was released and not before. In addition, it can be proven that both directors have the necessary qualifications for the positions they have been appointed for.
The NAO Draft Bill 2024 which is aimed at enhancing the independence of the AG and governance of the NAO, went through a pre-validation workshop with diverse stakeholders to give their inputs. It is the position of the NAO that the false assertions of the petitioner were ignited by the discourse on the said draft Bill which is assumed to be a new Bill. We are aware of a WhatsApp group created by a group of accountants to discuss the contents of the said draft Bill where the said petitioner first shared his allegations. It is important to note that the draft Bill 2024 is not entirely new. The NAO Act 2015, enacted by parliament, expanded on the NAO’s mandate, functions, and governance and thus, the draft Bill 2024 was first introduced by the former AG in the form of an Amendment Bill. Therefore, the issue of the board and other observations are not new as they are already addressed in the 2015 Act, with some minor adjustments based on good practices and standards for SAIs. The Bill also now provides a process for the application of the surcharge provision in the 1997 constitution.
The AG would like to use this opportunity to also address other allegations brought to the attention of the NAO relating to the outsourcing of audits and publication of audit reports.
The NAO outsources some of its audits to private audit firms, especially for SOEs and projects as provided for in the NAO Act 2015. This process has been significantly improved with the introduction of the outsourcing policy, ensuring the active involvement of the NAO in the entire audit process, including the contracting agreement, which is now a tripartite agreement (NAO, auditee, and private audit firm). This enhanced process is meant to ensure value for money and quality audit service.
The publication of audit reports is in line with the 1997 constitution, which allows the AG to publish audit reports after their discussion in parliament or cases of undue delay. The reports published after the discussion can be found on the NAO website, and the office also has a database to track the reports submitted to parliament for discussion. The office continues to engage with the office of the clerk of the National Assembly for the scheduling of reports for discussion.
In conclusion, the Auditor General (AG) would like to emphasize the importance of the roles of the National Audit Office (NAO) and the position of the Auditor General. The AG is aware of the unique nature of the AG position and its significant impact on the Gambia’s governance system.
Whilst recognising the freedom of expression as needed in any democratic environment, we encourage the general public and all interested parties to seek clarification from the office and to enhance their understanding of the work of supreme audit institutions, including their legislative framework to avoid sharing misleading information.
The NAO’s primary purpose is to serve the citizens of the Gambia, and we believe that with appropriate legislation that meets democratic standards, the office will be better positioned to fulfill its mandate. We urge stakeholders to stay updated on the office’s developments by engaging with our social media pages and website which we keep updated to be transparent in our engagements and to better inform the public about what we do.
