Dear Pa,<\/p>\n
I have\u00a0attached\u00a0excerpt from the special audit report that touched on the D17m land purchase by Mambury Njie at the time he was the Managing Director of GNPC. Details of the auditor\u2019s findings\u00a0is on page 354 of the report . i have\u00a0attached\u00a0excerpt\u00a0for you. This expose the kind of finance minister we have. The land was over-valued and the\u00a0Anderson\u00a0is a friend\u00a0of his.<\/p>\n
Thanks for the great job.<\/p>\n
Governance of substantial purchases<\/p>\n
8.37\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our review of the 2018\u00a0Board\u00a0minutes indicated that the GNPC\u00a0Board\u00a0expressed concerns over the transparency of large transactions conducted by management. The minutes detail their specific concerns in relation to a land deal entered into by GNPC management.<\/p>\n
8.38\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 GNPC Senior Management informed us that all the land for its existing stations has been gifted by the Government of The Gambia. However, in our review of the March 2018\u00a0Board\u00a0minutes, we noted that GNPC had begun the process of purchasing a piece of land in Banjul in order to construct a new station as part of their land banking initiative. This is an initiative to purchase strategic land for future GNPC petrol stations and GNPC has a committee of Managers who advise on various\u00a0aspects\u00a0of property deals.<\/p>\n
8.39\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The price discussed was GMD 17m (USD 354k), with the\u00a0board\u00a0minutes indicating GNPC had already paid 50% of this price. The vendors of the land per the sales agreement are Wilfred I.N\u00a0Anderson\u00a0and Mathias George. They are described as the beneficial owners of the property which forms part of the estate of the deceased Mr. Wilfred Manly-Rollings. Per the minutes, one of the\u00a0Board\u00a0members set forth their opinion that \u201c\u2026the price in question was exorbitant for the property in question.\u201d<\/p>\n
8.40\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The minutes note that no prior approval was sought from the National Environment Agency (\u201cNEA\u201d) to construct a service station, and no feasibility study was conducted. The minutes also note that a financial and business\u00a0model\u00a0was not performed or evaluated prior to the investment. The minutes indicate that the land was purchased while the current Minister of Finance, Mr. Mambury Njie, was the Managing Director of GNPC.<\/p>\n
8.41\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The minutes indicate that the\u00a0Board\u00a0wished to be guided on the procurement limit of the\u00a0Board\u00a0and Management so that a threshold could be established which would require involvement of the\u00a0Board\u00a0in certain operational activities. Per the\u00a0Board\u00a0minutes we reviewed, we note this issue was not fully resolved.<\/p>\n
8.42 Per the minutes Mr. Njie defended not having involved the\u00a0board\u00a0earlier by stating that based on his experience (as the former Managing Director) at SSHFC \u201c\u2026operational matters are handled by the Management and they later present their findings to the\u00a0Board\u201d.<\/p>\n
8.43\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In our subsequent meeting with Mr. Njie, he explained the strategic importance of that particular site to central Banjul sales and highlighted the need to move quickly and without\u00a0Board\u00a0approval. He noted this was because GNPC had lost several previous strategically\u00a0advantageous\u00a0sites, and that he wanted to maintain commercial confidentiality around the purchase.<\/p>\n
8.44\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In our meeting Mr. Njie further noted that a valuation was done before the first payment was<\/p>\n
made in December 2017. He indicated the valuation figure was GMD 19m (USD 396k). We attempted to independently verify the amount with the valuation company, Sphinx Associates Gambia Co. Ltd. The company informed us a valuation had been performed on the property, however they would only disclose this\u00a0information\u00a0to a third party, upon receipt of permission from their client. They clarified that their client was not GNPC.<\/p>\n
8.45 A copy of the valuation report was instead provided to us by MoFEA. The report confirmed the total value of the land and\u00a0buildings\u00a0to be GMD 19.27m, with the land constituting GMD 16.57m of that total.<\/p>\n
8.46\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We identified a potential purchase of land for a second Banjul station in the 2017<\/p>\n
Management Accounts. GNPC Finance team indicated that the remaining portion of the sale price discussed in the minutes had been paid.<\/p>\n
8.47\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We note that independent valuation advice and scrutiny of large transactions, such as land deals, is a key control in managing corruption risk. Independent scrutiny and segregation of duties are also important controls that help to mitigate transactions which may be disadvantageous or harmful to the business.<\/p>\n
Recommendations and current efforts<\/p>\n
8.48\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We recommend that GNPC engages a third party to perform a full verification and valuation<\/p>\n
of their existing asset base. This will allow the entity to construct a\u00a0complete\u00a0and verifiable Fixed Asset Register, which can be used as a reliable\u00a0driver\u00a0of the figures in the GL. We note that GNPC has recognized the need to perform this third party Fixed Asset verification. The GNPC Finance team noted that the Terms of Reference to perform the exercise are currently being drafted. We recommend GNPC proceeds swiftly with this initiative to aid in the rebuilding of the GNPC Balance Sheet.<\/p>\n
8.49\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We recommend GNPC implements the \u2018Four Eyes Principle\u2019 (i.e., two independent performing a review) and restricts permissions around any potential entries to the GL accounts for Fixed Assets. This will aid in reducing discrepancies between the GL and a verifiable Fixed Asset Register.<\/p>\n
8.50 We recommend that a full asset verification exercise is undertaken at least\u00a0annually\u00a0by GNPC to aid in identifying assets requiring impairment or write-off.<\/p>\n
8.51 We recommend enforcing that\u00a0all land\u00a0purchases are accompanied by an independent valuation from a third-party. Moreover, purchases above a certain threshold must be approved by the\u00a0Board\u00a0prior to any funds being pledged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Pa, I have\u00a0attached\u00a0excerpt from the special audit report that touched on the D17m land purchase by Mambury Njie at the time he was the Managing Director of GNPC. Details of the auditor\u2019s findings\u00a0is on page 354 of the report . i have\u00a0attached\u00a0excerpt\u00a0for you. This expose the kind of finance minister we have. The land […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":2459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,7,8],"tags":[1471,1065,1472],"class_list":["post-2458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","tag-forensic-audit-of-gnpc","tag-gambia-news-everyday","tag-mambury-njies-land-deal"],"yoast_head":"\n