The Gambia Police Force announced on October 15, 2024, that it has initiated an investigation into concerns raised by the Auditor General in a Special Audit Report focusing on the financial operations of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
Although the Police have not disclosed further details about the investigation, the move has sparked a range of reactions from Gambian social commentators. Some have criticized the Police, accusing them of being “selective” in their investigative approach.
Kerr Fatou has reviewed key findings from the National Audit Office’s (NAO) report on the IEC’s finances, which covers the period from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2023. The report highlights a significant amount of unretired funds, totaling GMD7,935,603.55.
According to the audit, discussions with IEC management revealed that, as part of the Commission’s procedures, budgeted election funds are transferred to the private bank accounts of Returning Officers in various regions during election periods. These Returning Officers are tasked with using the funds for election-related expenses and are required to provide detailed expenditure reports. After each election, they are expected to submit financial records to the Finance Director for review.
“Discussions with the management of the IEC reveal that part of the operating procedure adopted by the IEC during the process of carrying out election activities is the transfer of budgeted election funds to the private bank accounts of the appointed Returning Officers in the various administrative regions. The Returning Officers are expected to spend these funds on election activities and to retire, i.e. to provide concrete evidence of how these funds were spent. The Returning Officers will submit these retirements to the Finance Director upon the completion of every election,
“Reconciliations between the budget estimate, i.e. the total amount of funds transferred in the private bank accounts of the returning officers, and the actual expenses from the retirement file for the periods ranging from the past electoral cycle from 2021-2023 reveals unretired funds amounting to GMD7,935,603.55, meaning the returning officers could not show concrete evidence of how these funds were spent.” The audit report states.
The audit report suggests that the unretired funds may not have been used for election activities, potentially diverted for other purposes. This implies that imprests could serve as unauthorized, interest-free loans to officials, resulting in financial loss for the Commission and a disregard for regulations, which could lead to further misuse of funds if unaddressed.
“There is a risk that these funds were not spent on election activities and were diverted away for other purposes. This is indicative that imprests could be used as unauthorised loans to these officials with no interest levied on them, thus resulting in a loss of funds to the Commission. This is also a total disregard for Regulations and, if not addressed, could lead to serious misuse of the Commission funds.” the report indicated.
The auditors recommended that management ensure all election-related expenditures are properly accounted for. Any leftover cash should be returned to the commission by the Returning Officers, who should obtain a receipt as proof. This evidence should then be provided to the audit team for verification.
In response to the audit team’s findings, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) clarified that all funds were fully retired to the IEC and liquidated by the Returning Officers. They further stated that all liquidation documents were provided to the audit team during the audit process.
“Retirements were fully made to the IEC, and funds adequately liquidated by the Returning Officers. All retirement and liquidation documents were made available to the audit team during the audit exercise, with no questions arising thereof from the audit team.” the IEC explained.
Despite the IEC’s assurances regarding the retirement and liquidation of funds, the audit team indicated that an outstanding retirement amount of GMD 7,935,603.55 can still be verified. They recommended that the Commission take immediate steps to recover the unretired amounts from the individuals listed below:
Name of returning officer Total unretired funds
Sulayman Joof D443,196
Joseph Colley D1,482,201
Anthony Robert Secka D5,907,702
Ahmadou Taal D2,281,418
Essa Baldeh D179,480
lsatou Jallow Ndure D18,589
Pa makan Khan D353,990
Lamin Cham D1 ,031.431
Lamin J Jadama D20,800
