By Kebba A.F. Touray
The National Audit Office (NAO) has said the reconciliation of payments under a $35.72m Banjul Drainage, Roads and Sewage (BDRS) project remains unresolved, with auditors unable to establish how much has been paid against the contract value.
The issue is among a number of unresolved audit findings highlighted by the NAO in its 2025 Management Letter on the accounts of the Government of The Gambia.
The auditors said the BDRS project was previously reported in the government’s 2019 accounts, but the matter has remained unresolved.
In the 2025 Management Letter, the auditors said a further review of the project revealed that the contract was worth $35.72m.
“Further review revealed a contract sum was USD 35,720,000.00,” the auditors said.
However, the audit team said it could not reconcile payments made under the contract with the total contract value because the documents submitted did not provide sufficient information.
“The audit team was unable to reconcile the payments made against the contract value, as the evidence submitted did not include details of cumulative payments to date, outstanding balances at specific points in time, or arrears yet to be settled,” the auditors said.
The auditors said the Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure indicated that soft copies of relevant documents had been submitted to the National Assembly.
However, the documents were not made available to the audit team for verification.
According to the NAO, the absence of a reconciliation meant that it could not determine whether the full contract amount had been paid or whether money was still owed under the project.
“In the absence of such reconciliations, the audit team could not verify whether the full contract sum has been paid or whether any outstanding balance remains,” the auditors said.
The NAO said the matter therefore remained unresolved.
“Consequently, the finding remains unresolved. Status remains the same as there was no reconciliation done for, and the contract price is USD 35,720,000.00,” the auditors said.
The BDRS project is not the only issue that remains unresolved in the latest NAO review.
The auditors also raised concerns over what they described as an “un-justified single source procurement” involving the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The matter relates to a procurement process worth D10m that appeared in the ministry’s 2023 accounts.
The auditors said information submitted to them did not adequately address the concerns they had previously raised about the procurement process.
“Based on the submissions from the National Assembly and the review of documents provided by the Ministry of Youths and Sports (MoYS), we noted that the information submitted did not address the issues raised by the audit team,” the auditors said.
The audit team requested bidding documents and evidence showing how the procurement process was conducted.
“The audit team requested the bidding documents and evidence of the tendering process, as the amount involved is at a tune of GMD 10,000,000 which requires competitive tendering in accordance with the GPPA Act,” the auditors said.
The auditors also referred to information from the Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA) concerning the procurement.
According to the NAO, the evidence submitted showed that GPPA had not approved the single-source procurement by the Ministry of Youth and Sports for Independent Stadium Phase II.
“As per the evidence submitted GPPA stated that they did not approve the single source procurement by the MoYS on the Independent Stadium Phase II,” the auditors said.
The auditors said this meant that the ministry had failed to comply with the requirements of the GPPA Act and regulations.
They said the matter had already been highlighted in the audit report but remained unresolved.
“The Ministry failed to comply with the GPPA Act and regulations in their procurement processes as initially highlighted in the audit report, as a result, the finding remains unresolved,” the auditors said.
The NAO also raised concerns over what it described as unaccounted government revenue linked to timber exports under the Environment Ministry.
The issue relates to transactions recorded in 2021.
The auditors said information submitted during the review confirmed that 300 containers had been verified by the Gambia Ports Authority (GPA) in relation to timber exports.
However, the auditors said the documents did not contain enough information to establish the value of timber in each container or the total amount collected from the exports during the period under review.
“As per the NA submission, it was noted that the evidence provided confirmed 300 containers were verified by GPA in relation to timber exportation,” the auditors said.
“They however, said that the analysis and supporting documentation did not include the value per container or the total collections made during the stated period.”
The NAO said the Accountant General had confirmed that D199,287,576 had been collected and deposited into a Special Deposit Account.
“Furthermore, the Accountant General confirmed that a total collection of GMD199,287,576 was made and deposited into the Special Deposit Account No. 1401000044,” the auditors said.
However, the auditors said the amount confirmed by the Accountant General was significantly lower than the amount reported by the audit team.
“This amount contrasts with the figure of GMD441,250,056.00 reported by the audit team,” they said.
The difference amounted to D241,962,480.
“Therefore, this implies that collections amounting to GMD 241,962,480 were not accounted for,” the auditors said.
The NAO said the evidence submitted by the Environment Department did not adequately explain or support the collections reported for the period.
“As a result, they stated that the evidence submitted by the Environment Department is not adequate and does not substantiate the reported collections for the period under review, and the finding remains unresolved,” the auditors said.
The findings form part of the NAO’s 2025 Management Letter on the Government’s accounts.
The Management Letter has been submitted to the National Assembly and was discussed with the relevant government entities by the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC).
The committee is expected to prepare a report on the issues discussed with the relevant institutions.
The report is then expected to be tabled before the plenary of the National Assembly during an upcoming session, where lawmakers will further deliberate on the audit findings.
The unresolved findings include the reconciliation of the US$35.72m Banjul Drainage, Roads and Sewage project, the D10m single-source procurement by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the D241.96m in timber export collections which the NAO said remained unaccounted for.
