By: Kebba AF Touray
The Audited Financial Reports of the Office of the Ombudsman have revealed increment in assets, revenue and expenditures of the office.
These revelations were disclosed by the Principal Accountant of the Office, Ebrima J Sawo, who presented the financial statements of the office for years ended 2020 and 2021.
Presenting the reports during the appearance of the office before the Finance and Public Accounts Committee, he said the total assets of the ombudsman increased from D17,67,304.59 in 2020 to D18,015,117.24.
He added: “The total liabilities in 2020 stood at D1, 191.20 and D180, 365.28. Total net assets increased from D16,673,113.33 in 2020 to D17,834,751.39”.
He reported that the revenue of the office also increased from D19,335,471.00 in 2020 to D25,092,886.00 in 2021 and expenses increased from D16, 338,321.84 in 2020 to D24,931247.73, “surplus for the year 2020 D2,997,149.16 and in 2021 D161,638.78”.
The Ombudsman, Bakary K Sanyang, assured that the office will ensure that detainees are kept in a conducive environment and his office will report to government its findings and make appropriate recommendations in line with the Optional Protocol on the convention of torture and all the relevant acts.
“Thus the Ombudsman will be coming up with reports containing genuine evidence of conditions in police cells, prisons and all the places of detention,” he said.
He said that at their Headquarters 90 complaints were registered and lodged, of which 20 were satisfactorily resolved in favor of complainants, 19 dismissed after full investigations due to lack of merit, 18 were discontinued due to frivolous reasons and 4 were withdrawn by the complainants themselves and 20 were pending going into 2022.
The Office, he reported has during the period visited prison and detention centers, as well as police cells, not to only look at the violations of human rights, but “this is to also provide an opportunity to the detainees and prisoners to directly lodge their complaints to the office of the Ombudsman, if they have anything as the law provides”.
He expressed: “An area of grave concern is the state of the remand prison in terms of the number of years some of them have in custody without been judged. sentenced or acquitted. The Ombudsman recognizes the importance of the protection of the fundamental human rights and freedoms of all Gambians, particularly those in prison and all detention centers, as set out in chapter 4 of the 1997 constitution”.
He said that section 3 (B) of the 1997 Ombudsman Act mandates the Ombudsman to investigate complaints concerning functions of the public service commission, the administrative and security organs of the state, the Gambia Police Force and the Prion Service, as complaint relate to the failure and balance structuring of the force and service or equal access by all.
The NAO report, read by Serign Mass Jallow, unraveled the reports of the institution, present fair and true view of the financial transactions of the Office of the Ombudsman in accordance with International Public Finance Sector Accounting Policy and the Ombudsman Acts.
The NAO, Jallow said they found that there are issues such as no minutes of the meetings of the office of the Ombudsman, lack of risk management framework, and no risk management conducted during the reviewed period.
According to the Gambia Public Procurement Agency (GPPA), the Office of the Ombudsman was found to be 80 percent compliant, which denotes mainly complaint in the running of its procurement transactions.
Consideration is slated for today Tuesday, 17 May 2024 at 10:00 am prompt at the National Assembly.
