Gambia’s 2024 Government Accounts Rejected by Auditor General Over ‘Material Misstatements’**
The Auditor General of The Gambia, Cherno Amadou Sowe, has issued an adverse opinion on the government’s 2024 financial statements, declaring they do not present a fair view of the state’s financial position. The formal rejection, presented to the National Assembly’s Finance and Public Accounts Committee on Monday, cites widespread and significant errors in the recording and classification of billions of dalasis across key financial categories.
In his report, Mr. Sowe stated the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024, fail to comply with the Public Finance Act 2024 and the Cash Basis International Public Sector Accounting Standards. He concluded that the “material matters identified” collectively undermine the credibility of the entire accounts.
The adverse opinion is grounded in several critical findings. A primary concern involves payable accounts, where debit balances were recorded—a practice that contradicts the fundamental nature of liability accounts. One specific account with the Gambia Social Security Fund (GSF) showed a debit balance of D1,242,308, which the Auditor General noted seriously questions the accuracy of reported liabilities and the integrity of the general ledger.
The report further details extensive misclassification of transit accounts, leading to a massive overstatement of payables by D2,917,828,075.50. These uncleared balances, which should have been separately identified, were incorrectly mapped into various disclosure notes, including Note 21, despite not representing actual payables. This error distorted the reported payable balance and related financial disclosures.
Similar distortions were found in receivables. Note 17 was found to overstate receivable balances by D1,017,968,709.40 due to uncleared transit accounts that were wrongly presented as amounts due to the government. The Auditor General emphasized these accounts were neither clear nor identifiable, further compromising the accuracy of the financial statements.
Cash and cash equivalents were also materially misstated. The revenue bank account incorrectly showed a negative balance of D352,365,079, which was improperly classified as an asset, contributing to an understatement of total cash equivalents. Furthermore, a major discrepancy of D5,080,724,180 exists between the cash balance in the statement of financial position (Note 15) and the year-end balance in the statement of cash receipts and payments, pointing to fundamental failures in cash reconciliation.
The Auditor General’s adverse opinion triggers a formal requirement for the government to correct the statements and implement robust internal controls. The report will now be subject to scrutiny by the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, which is tasked with investigating the causes of these systemic failures and holding relevant ministries and agencies accountable. The findings represent a severe indictment of the government’s financial management and reporting processes for 2024.
