By: Kebba AF Touray and Isha Jarjue
The total Income of the Gambia Postal Service Corporation (GAMPOST) has increased by Five Million (D5 Million) in 2022.
The corporation reported this increment in its audited financial statements for the year 2022, presented before the Public Enterprise Committee (PEC) of the National Assembly, for scrutiny, consideration, and adoption.
Presenting before PEC, the officials of GAMPOST reported that the corporation’s total income in 2021 stood at twenty Million, One Hundred and Eighty-One Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty-Six Dalasi (D20,181,866.00) in 2020 to Twenty-Five Million, Two Hundred and Ninety-Three Thousand and Sixty Eighty Dalasi (D25,293,068.00) in 2021.
Putting the total income of the GAMPOST in 2021 and 2021, it gives a cumulative increment of Five Million One, Hundred and Eleven Thousand, Two Hundred and Two Dalasi (D5, 111,202).
Of the said income the corporation registered, a total expenditure of Twenty-One Million, One Hundred and Thirteen Thousand, Seven Hundred and Six Dalasi (D21,113,706.00) was recorded in 2020, to a total expenditure of Twenty-Two Million, Four Hundred and Forty-Seven Thousand, Nine Hundred and Forty Dalasi (D22,447,940.00) in 2021.
This, as indicated by the report of the corporation, shows that GAMPOST has a surplus of (D1, 128,471.00) in 2020 and a positive surplus of D2, 595,761.00 in 2021.
“Total assets of the GAMPOST in 2020 stood at D64, 105,431.00, which increased to D98, 621,727.00 in 2021. Total equity and liabilities in 2020 stood at d64, 105,431.00, and at D98, 621,727.00 in 2021,” indicated GAMPOST’s report.
According to the auditors, they have observed some audit issues in the area of inventory management, stating there was no separate inventory code in the general ledger to record the stock released to the individual branches during the year, as a result, inventory balance held at the respective branches, were not reported in the general ledger during the year.
The auditors also observed a lack of assessment of the financial and or commercial viability of the savings bank operations and also observed that collection from the savings is deposited into a non-interest-bearing current account maintained at Trust Bank, instead of being invested in an interest-bearing account/investment.
“We also noted reporting challenges in respect of the software, which was reported to have been explained to the software service provider, but they are yet to be resolved,” auditors revealed.
Auditors recommended: “We recommend that separate general ledger codes be created for various branches and such codes should be debited at the time of the release of inventory from the main store to the respective branches”.
Management agrees with the observation on maintaining centralized inventory, however, said that in the last week of December 2021, they decided to decentralize its stamp stock to the branches, to ease the movement of branch managers to the head office for stamp requisition.
Management replied that they are working on reviewing and updating its AC of 2005 and corporate strategy to meet the growing demands of technology emergence and rebrand the savings bank unit, to embrace digitalization with the quest to improve its operations value and volume.
Subsequently, the Public Enterprise Committee adopted the reports of GAMPOST, and would now prepare a report on its ongoing engagements with SOEs, which will be table before the plenary, for scrutiny, consideration, and adoption by the whole legislature.
