Gambia’s Auditor General Questions Discrepancies in Government Financial Statements

Gambia’s Auditor General, Cherno Sowe, has raised concerns over discrepancies in the government’s 2024 financial statements after issuing an adverse audit opinion.

Presenting his report to the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) of the National Assembly, Sowe said the accounts do not fairly present the country’s financial position as of 31 December 2024.

He cited several anomalies, including a payable account recording a debit balance, which reduced reported government liabilities by GMD 1.34 million, raising questions about the accuracy of the records.

The Auditor General also disclosed that unclear and uncleared transit accounts led to an overstatement of government receivables by more than GMD 1.07 billion, noting that the accounts were misclassified despite not representing actual receivables.

In addition, Sowe reported that a government revenue bank account showed a negative balance of GMD 352.36 million, which was incorrectly classified as cash and cash equivalents. He said this misclassification distorted the government’s reported cash position.

He further revealed reconciliation discrepancies of GMD 3.72 million between general ledgers and cashbooks, as well as billions of dalasis in unreconciled cash and bank balances dating back to 2019.

Sowe warned that the persistent discrepancies undermine the accuracy, transparency, and reliability of the government’s financial reporting.

Bakary Tourey Jr