Infrastructure Ministry Dismisses Auditor General’s Report on D377 Million Road Project Discrepancy as “Misleading and False”
By Makutu Manneh
The Ministry of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure (MoTWI) has strongly rejected findings from the Auditor General’s report that highlighted a D377 million discrepancy in a road construction contract in the North Bank Region (NBR), describing the report as “grossly misleading” and “patently false.”
In a statement issued on October 6, 2025, the ministry accused the Auditor General’s Office of either misreporting or deliberately omitting key information, despite the ministry having provided all relevant documentation and clarifications during the audit process.
“The ministry wants to put on record that the reported discrepancy was in fact either a misreporting or a deliberate omission on the part of the Auditor General, as the stated facts and documentary evidence were provided by the ministry to the auditors during the audit process,” the ministry stated.
According to MoTWI, the D377 million referenced in the audit report was fully accounted for as part of an addendum to the original road construction contract. The ministry detailed that in October 2020, it signed a contract with Areski Company to construct 38 kilometers of roads in NBR over a 16-month period. Subsequently, an additional 16.5 kilometers was added to the project through Addendum No. 1, signed on February 16, 2022.
The ministry also refuted audit claims that the contract for the Kiang West Roads Project was awarded without approval from the Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA), dismissing the assertion as “baseless and totally false.”
It cited documentary evidence showing that GPPA had issued a “no objection” approval for the award of the contract through a letter referenced GPPA/NRA/TR 2/21/(2)/(B.S), dated November 1, 2021. The letter, the ministry said, confirmed approval for the construction of 87 kilometers of roads in Kiang West.
“The Ministry of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure therefore urges the general public to ignore and/or regard as inaccurate and affirmatively baseless current trending reports by the media attributed to the Auditor General’s claim of a reported discrepancy of D377 million in the North Bank Roads Project and noncompliance of procurement rules in the award of the Kiang West Roads project contract,” the statement concluded.