Abdoulie Sey
By Fatou Sillah
An audit of The Gambia Radio and Television Services has found that the broadcaster operated in 2022 without an approved internal audit work plan and failed to produce key quarterly audit reports, raising concerns about governance and risk management at the state-owned institution.
The findings were presented to the National Assembly’s Public Enterprises Committee, which is reviewing financial and operational practices across public bodies.
According to the auditors, GRTS’s internal audit committee did not formally approve the annual audit work plan for the year under review, and reports for the first and second quarters of 2022 were not made available during preparation of the management letter.
“During our review, we noted that GRTS’s internal audit committee has not approved the internal audit annual work plan for the year under review,” the auditors said. “We were not provided with internal audit reports for the first and second quarters of 2022.”
Auditors warned that such gaps could weaken oversight and increase exposure to operational and financial risks, noting that the absence of approval and documentation made it difficult to determine whether audit objectives had been met or whether key risk areas were examined in a timely manner.
GRTS management disputed the characterization, saying the work plan had been reviewed and approved during an audit committee meeting and that quarterly activities were carried out in line with guidance from the committee.
On the missing reports, management said electronic copies had been lost after a laptop belonging to the senior manager of internal audit went missing during official travel.
“The observation is well noted,” management said in its response. “However, the subcopy of the first and second quarter meetings was residing in the laptop of the SMIA, that is, the senior manager of internal audit, which was lost during an official trip outside the country. Aside from the hard copies sent to the committee members at the time, the only other copy available was on the laptop.”
The auditors also flagged weaknesses in asset management, including the missing laptop, which had not been removed from the fixed asset register, and the absence of a police report documenting the loss.
“We noted a laptop allocated to the head of audit was stolen during the year; however, the fixed asset register was not updated to reflect the theft, and a police report was not obtained,” the audit report said.
Management responded that the laptop went missing while the officer was returning from overseas travel and said it would be written off in the 2023 accounts.
“The laptop for SMIA went missing while he was on his way returning home from overseas travel; the police report could not be sought due to the time constraint not to miss the flight, and will be written off in the 2023 accounts,” the response said.
The audit further found that a drone with a net book value of D273,500 remained listed as an asset despite being non-operational.
“We noted that the corporation recorded a drone with a net book value of D273,500; however, the drone is no longer operational, yet it continues to be recorded in the fixed asset register,” the report said.
GRTS management countered that while the drone had a faulty camera lens, it was still being used by engineers for training purposes. “Please note that the drone has a camera lens problem, but is still in use by the engineers for training purposes.”
Public Enterprises Committee members are expected to make recommendations after completing their review of the audit findings.
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