By: Fatou Krubally
Only 17 of 30 recommendations issued by the National Audit Office between 2023 and 2025 have been fully implemented by the Gambian government, Vice President Muhammed B.S. Jallow has told the National Assembly.
Jallow made the disclosure on Wednesday while answering oral questions from lawmakers under Order 41, covering issues including government accountability, security arrangements and the recent border matter with Senegal.
Responding to Bakau lawmaker Assan Touray, who asked how many audit recommendations had been fully implemented over the past three years, the Vice President said seven recommendations were currently being implemented while six had been partially implemented.
He explained that some recommendations required lengthy institutional processes and could not be completed through a one-off exercise.
Among the recommendations still being implemented, Jallow cited follow-up on fisheries areas, clearance of reconciled transactions, stock-taking of government assets, reconciliation between the cash book, general ledger and Note 15, clearance of differences identified during bank reconciliations, and closure of dormant bank accounts.
The Vice President also outlined measures introduced by the government to strengthen accountability and transparency, including the digitisation of government revenue collection.
He said the Integrated Financial Management Information System had been expanded to cover projects and subvented agencies, while payment vouchers had been centralised and month-end financial reporting improved.
According to Jallow, the digitisation of revenue collection was also intended to reduce physical handling of cash, with payments increasingly channelled through banks.
The disclosure prompted further questions from lawmakers over the outstanding recommendations and whether the government had established timelines for their implementation.
Jeshwang lawmaker Sheriff Sarr and other members sought clarification on the unresolved recommendations.
Jallow said the pace of implementation depended on the nature of each recommendation, adding that weaknesses in record-keeping could also contribute to delays in some cases.
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