By Kebba AF Touray
In a special audit report on the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH), the National Audit Office (NAO) has exposed alleged fraudulent payments at the said hospital.
The alleged fraudulent payments, as reported by NAO, are in a combined total of over two million Dalasi (D2 million). To respond to the above allegations, senior members the management of EFSTH appeared before members of the legislative committee on Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) on Tuesday 29 April 2025, to clarify matters regarding alleged fraudulent payment of Call Allowances to unqualified staff of the hospital; alleged fraudulent payment of non-Private Practicing staff (NPP) allowance to unqualified staff; alleged over payment of allowance to EFSTH staff; and the collusion of senior procurement officer with suppliers to divert public funds.
According to the Audit report, the board of directors in a memo dated 20th February 2018, approved a list of allowances for various categories, which stated that staff with the grades who can receive call allowances.
According to the Audit report, the categories of allowances that were reported to have been received by staff were housing officers’ allowances, senior housing and medical officers, registrars, and senior registrars.
“A review of the payroll shows that management has been paying staff call allowances on a monthly basis, to those who are not in the categories mentioned above to the tune of D1,805,500.00,” the audit report said; that management should cease the payment of the call allowance and device a payment plan to recover all payments, and provide the audit office with evidence of repayment.
The Audit report said this particular allowance is allocated to Doctors to prevent them from taking up private practice while in government or during hospital duties, adding that a review of the payroll has also shown that the management of EFSTH has been paying non-practicing allowances worth D830,000 to staff who are not Doctors.
“The implication has led to the misappropriation of hospital resources, and we recommend that management should cease the payment of NPP allowance to the above individuals immediately,” the Audit report said.
According to NAO, a review of a memo dated 24 May 2018 to the chairperson of the board of directors, shows that senior members of the management of EFSTH were entitled to EFSTH’s allowance of GMD 5,000.00 on a monthly basis. However, the audit report said a review of the pay slips of staff shows management has been paying in excess of what they were entitled to receive.
“The payment of excess EFSTH allowance led to the misappropriation of hospital resources,” NAO reports, and recommended that management recover these monies through a payment plan and provide the Audit Office with evidence.
The NAO also indicated in their audit report that a review of the statement of accounts has shown the senior procurement officer receiving funds from individuals who were dealing with the hospital as suppliers which amounts to two hundred and fourteen thousand and fifty dalasi (D214,050) after awarding businesses to these vendors by the contract committee members.
According to the Audit report, this implies that the funds were diverted, and management should investigate between the senior procurement officer and suppliers to recover these funds immediately.
Dr. Mustapha Bittaye, the Chief Medical Director at EFSTH, provided management responses to the said audit issues flagged in the report.
On call allowance, Dr. Bittaye said management agrees with all other findings and has ceased the payment of the said allowances to the said staff.
“This allowance was approved by the PMO for all nurses, including my colleagues in other hospitals,” Dr. Bittaye said, but the Audit Office insists that the issue still remains unresolved.
On NPP Payment, Dr. Bittaye said all the above-mentioned staff are management members and said, according to the approved management allowances, they are all entitled to the NPP allowance of five thousand Dalasi monthly.
The Audit Office in the report confirmed that this matter has since been resolved.
On the overpayment of staff, Dr. Bittaye said that from the approved allowances by the board, all management members are entitled to their respective EFSTH allowances plus another sum of five thousand dalasi. He said all the staff members mentioned by the auditors received the appropriate amount as approved by the board.
On the collusion between the senior procurement officer and the suppliers, Dr. Bittaye responded that management agrees with this finding and the need for the police to investigate the matter further.
