Africa-Press – Gambia. The 2021 audit report of the government’s finances revealed unaccounted revenue of D241,962,480 from proceeds generated from timber sales contracted to Hagie Baniko Sissoko General Trading Clearing and Forwarding and Jagne Narr Procurement and Agency Services.
The two companies were contracted by the government to manage the exportation of wood from The Gambia. They were required to collect a fee of US$3,600 per container from each export permit holder. In addition, the agents levy a US$900 fee on each container for domestic and international logistics services.
According to the agreement with the government, they were to remit these collections into a designated account as advised by the Ministry of Environment.
Regarding this, the audit report stated: “Our third-party confirmation with Gambia Ports Authority revealed 2,393 containers of wood/timber were shipped for the period 1st January 2019 to 30th April 2019. Therefore, this suggests that the expected revenue from 1st January 2019 to 30th April 2019 based on the number of containers exported is estimated at US$8,614,800 equivalent to D441,250,056.
“However, we could not confirm if the stated amount was remitted to the relevant government account as officials of the Ministry of Environment were unable to provide us with the details of the designated bank account for which revenues were lodged. In addition, there is no evidence of reconciliation between the ministry and the agents and therefore could not determine the amount of revenue deposited to the purported designated bank account”.
Responding to these findings, the government explained that D199,287,576 was realised from the sale of timber and this amount was paid into a Special Deposit Account at the Central Bank of The Gambia.
However, the auditors maintained that they could not confirm the total amount realised from the sales from May to December 2019 since the number of containers shipped were not provided by the government. “Therefore, the finding remained the same. Further calculations of the 2,393 container shipments from Gambia Ports Authority revealed unaccounted revenue of D241,962,480”.
For More News And Analysis About Gambia Follow Africa-Press
