{"id":43156,"date":"2023-09-20T07:27:28","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T07:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?p=43156"},"modified":"2023-09-20T06:05:02","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T06:05:02","slug":"gpu-disagrees-with-fpac-demands-public-apology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gpu-disagrees-with-fpac-demands-public-apology","title":{"rendered":"GPU disagrees with FPAC, demands public apology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>The Gambia Press Union (GPU) hereby expresses its total rejection of a recommendation by the National Assembly to refund more than half a million dalasi of \u201cunconfirmed\u201d expenditureof funds some by media houses that benefitted from the government\u2019s Covid-19 relief package.<\/b><\/p>\n

The GPU is also demanding a public apology from the Assembly\u2019s Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) for the unfair and malicious attribution of the funds to the Union.The GPU was not at any point responsible for the management of the Covid bailout fund for media houses.<\/p>\n

The recommendation, made on September 14 and read by the FPAC Chairman, Alhagie S. Darboe, following a review of the \u201cAudit Report on the Government Covid-19Response- Consolidated Report Phase 2\u201d, stated:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Grant Management Committee (GMC) and Gambia Press Union (GPU) must return to AGD [Accountant General Department] the sum of GDM 585, 159.86 being the unused money for the Covid-19 relief support to media houses, within 10 days; failure of which, the Inspector General of Police to launch an investigation for possible prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n

The GPU would like to clarify that the sum of GDM 585, 159.86 that the FPAC referred to as \u201cunused money\u201d which the audit report categorised as \u201cunconfirmed\u201d expenditure \u2013 are funds that were already disbursed to media houses by the GMC for which only five (5) media houses out of forty-three (43), were unable to provide substantial evidence on how the balances of funds allocated to them was utilised during the audit process late last year. The names of all the media houses found to be unable to account for the money are indicated in the audit report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe GPU wasn\u2019t responsible for the management of the fund, and we neither received nor spend a dime from the fund as an institution,\u201d GPU President, Muhammed S. Bah, said.<\/p>\n

Instead, the fund was managed by the then Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure (MoICI), which worked with the GPU to put in place a policy to guide the disbursement process, especially on eligibility and allocation, and based on the policy, the Ministry established the GMC.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the GPU as a trade union which is working to improve the welfare of its members is disappointed that some media houses failed to utilise the funds for the intended purposes, we are not in any position to refund monies that we neither received or spent as an institution,\u201d Bah said.<\/p>\n

Demand for Apology <\/b><\/p>\n

Based on the fact presented, the GPU hereby demands a public apology from the Finance and Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly for deliberately hurting the reputation of the Union and its staff and board.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the FPAC does not understand the findings of the audit report or could not see that the report clearly indicated that the \u2018unused monies\u2019 was disbursed to radio stations or doesn\u2019t fully understand GPU\u2019s limited role and responsibility as per the grant \u2013 that is not our fault,\u201d GPU Secretary General, Modou S. Joof, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe strongly believe that the FPAC recommendation was made with malicious intent, to sully the integrity and unquestionable reputation of the GPU which has been built for over 40 years,\u201d Joof said.<\/p>\n

The Audit Report concluded that \u201cthe management of covid-19 funds allocated to media houses substantially complied with the laws and regulations that govern them – based on the information and documentation obtained during the audit.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the GMC<\/b><\/p>\n

The GMC was set up and tasked with administering and coordinating the disbursement of the Covid relief funds to the media houses. It was made up of five officials from MoICI, two from GPU, one from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, one from the National Audit Office, and a chairperson appointed by the Ministry.<\/p>\n

The Committee was directly answerably to the then Minister of Information and his Permanent Secretary. Therefore, any course of action about the funds should be directed to the Ministry, and not to the GPU or the GMC. The parliament ought to know this.<\/p>\n

The primary responsibility of the Committee was to administer and coordinate the disbursement of the funds to the media houses. The GMC wasn\u2019t set up to follow the expenditure of the funds by the media houses to the last butut. It was an ad hoc committee that was immediately dissolved following the completion of the assigned tasks.<\/p>\n

As long as the GMC is not found wanting for not distributing the funds, or for not distributing the funds accordingly, then it cannot be held responsible for the wayward expenditure of some media houses.<\/p>\n

The GPU or the GMC cannot in anyway be responsible for following up on indefinite expenditures. If the National Assembly\u2019s FPAC cannot ask the Ministry\/Minister to follow up, they should them write to the media houses and demand that they individually return the funds for which prove of expenditure cannot be established.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. The Gambia Press Union (GPU) hereby expresses its total rejection of a recommendation by the National Assembly to refund more than half a million dalasi of \u201cunconfirmed\u201d expenditureof funds some by media houses that benefitted from the government\u2019s Covid-19 relief package. The GPU is also demanding a public apology from the Assembly\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":43155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[2355,2361,260],"class_list":["post-43156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nGPU disagrees with FPAC, demands public apology - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Gambia Press Union (GPU) hereby expresses its total rejection of a recommendation by the National Assembly to ref ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gpu-disagrees-with-fpac-demands-public-apology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GPU disagrees with FPAC, demands public apology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Gambia Press Union (GPU) hereby expresses its total rejection of a recommendation by the National Assembly to ref ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gpu-disagrees-with-fpac-demands-public-apology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-20T07:27:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/09\/sm_1695177200.882849.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gpu-disagrees-with-fpac-demands-public-apology#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gpu-disagrees-with-fpac-demands-public-apology\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"GPU disagrees with FPAC, demands public apology\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-20T07:27:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gpu-disagrees-with-fpac-demands-public-apology\"},\"wordCount\":822,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gpu-disagrees-with-fpac-demands-public-apology#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/09\/sm_1695177200.882849.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gpu-disagrees-with-fpac-demands-public-apology#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gpu-disagrees-with-fpac-demands-public-apology\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/gpu-disagrees-with-fpac-demands-public-apology\",\"name\":\"GPU disagrees with FPAC, demands public apology - 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