The National Assembly Select Committee on Health, on Tuesday 26th January, 2021 received submissions from institutions under its purview to explain why they failed to submit their activity reports, financial statements and management letters for the year ended 2017-2019.
The Board members, CEOs and Directors of the National Nutrition Agency, National Disaster Management Agency, Food Safety and Quality Authority, Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Bundung Child Health and Maternity Hospital, Bwiam General Hospital, Kanifing General Hospital, Bansang General Hospital, Farafenni General Hospital, and Sheikh Zaid Eye Care, were the institutions that appeared to explain why they didn’t submit their activity reports and to identify ways forward to solve this and prevents a recurrence.
After careful scrutiny, question and answer between the members of the select committee and managements of the various institutions, the Health Select Committee realized that all of these institutions need to make adjustments to be compliant with the constitutional requirement to submit activity reports and financial statements to the select committee on Health on time.
Ousman Sillah, the Select Committee Chairperson said their actions towards these institutions is not a witch-hunt but a fulfilment of their mandates as National Assembly Members and to help institutions be more efficient and effective in their service delivery. He added that it is the only way we can have the type of institutions envisaged by all Gambians.
It appears that all these institutions have not submitted their financial activity reports to the Select Committee since 2017, except for NaNA which has only its 2019 reports pending at the National Audit Office, which they promise to submit to the select committee in two weeks’ time if the national audit office has audited the report.
Most of the heads of these institutions raise a number of concerns including a lack of financial directors when they took over leadership in their institutions, with administrative directors and managers, instead being the overseers of the financial aspect of the institutions. They sought advice and guidance from the committee on whether the financial report must cover the period when the institutions did not have a finance manager.
In response, the committee reminded them, this was not an acceptable excuse as the forms they have to complete and submitted by them, there is a section for them to list their challenges. They were urged to record their complaints under that section.
The institutions are now tasked to prepare financial statements and submit them to the select committee for scrutiny by the end of March.
By: Omar P. Jallow
The Board members, CEOs and Directors of the National Nutrition Agency, National Disaster Management Agency, Food Safety and Quality Authority, Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Bundung Child Health and Maternity Hospital, Bwiam General Hospital, Kanifing General Hospital, Bansang General Hospital, Farafenni General Hospital, and Sheikh Zaid Eye Care, were the institutions that appeared to explain why they didn’t submit their activity reports and to identify ways forward to solve this and prevents a recurrence.
After careful scrutiny, question and answer between the members of the select committee and managements of the various institutions, the Health Select Committee realized that all of these institutions need to make adjustments to be compliant with the constitutional requirement to submit activity reports and financial statements to the select committee on Health on time.
Ousman Sillah, the Select Committee Chairperson said their actions towards these institutions is not a witch-hunt but a fulfilment of their mandates as National Assembly Members and to help institutions be more efficient and effective in their service delivery. He added that it is the only way we can have the type of institutions envisaged by all Gambians.
It appears that all these institutions have not submitted their financial activity reports to the Select Committee since 2017, except for NaNA which has only its 2019 reports pending at the National Audit Office, which they promise to submit to the select committee in two weeks’ time if the national audit office has audited the report.
Most of the heads of these institutions raise a number of concerns including a lack of financial directors when they took over leadership in their institutions, with administrative directors and managers, instead being the overseers of the financial aspect of the institutions. They sought advice and guidance from the committee on whether the financial report must cover the period when the institutions did not have a finance manager.
In response, the committee reminded them, this was not an acceptable excuse as the forms they have to complete and submitted by them, there is a section for them to list their challenges. They were urged to record their complaints under that section.
The institutions are now tasked to prepare financial statements and submit them to the select committee for scrutiny by the end of March.
By: Omar P. Jallow