The Auditor General’s report, which revealed a D377 million discrepancy in a road construction contract in the North Bank Region (NBR), was strongly rejected by the Ministry of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure (MoTWI), which called it “patently false” and “grossly misleading.”
Despite providing all pertinent evidence and clarifications during the audit process, the ministry accused the Auditor General’s Office in a statement released on October 6, 2025, of either intentionally withholding or misreporting important facts.
Since the ministry gave the auditors the stated facts and supporting documentation during the audit process, the ministry wanted to make it clear that the claimed discrepancy was actually the result of either intentional omission or misreporting on the part of the Auditor General.
MoTWI claims that an addition to the original road building contract completely accounted for the D377 million mentioned in the audit report. According to the ministry, it entered into an agreement with Areski Company in October 2020 to build 38 kilometers of roads in NBR over a 16-month period. The project was then expanded by 16.5 kilometers with the signing of Addendum No. 1 on February 16, 2022.
Additionally, the ministry denied audit allegations that the Kiang West Roads Project contract was awarded without the Gambia Public Procurement Authority’s (GPPA) consent, calling the claim “baseless and totally false.”
It provided documentation demonstrating that, on November 1, 2021, GPPA issued a letter referred to as GPPA/NRA/TR 2/21/(2)/(B.S.) approving the contract award with “no objection.” According to the ministry, the letter verified that the 87 kilometers of roads in Kiang West could be built.
The statement concluded, “Therefore, the Ministry of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure urges the public to disregard and/or see as false and absolutely 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.”
