The Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has chastised several journalists for publishing audit findings incorrectly, implying that many do not fully comprehend the auditing process.
Dr. Ceesay stressed in an interview with West Coast Radio that audit findings need context and shouldn’t be viewed as discrete data. He voiced his worry that some reports have inflated or distorted the amount of public spending and government debt.”The majority of our analysts lack the necessary skills and competence to report on auditing, especially journalists who do so. To report and analyze audits, you must be aware of its subtleties and complexity, he stated.
In response to criticism of The Gambia’s debt-to-GDP ratio, Dr. Ceesay said that it is frequently evaluated unfairly in comparison to other countries. He said, “Every country borrows; the average debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7 is over 100 percent, Japan has 240 percent, America has 125 percent, and we are talking about 67 percent for Gambia, and we are complaining about that.”
He noted that audit reports by themselves are insufficient proof for legal procedures, emphasizing the significance of accurate numbers in audit reporting. The audits by themselves are insufficient proof in a court of competent jurisdiction. It must undergo a procedure. It has to be investigated further. Due process must be followed because we live in a democracy,” he stated.
Concerns regarding the motivations underlying certain web reports were also voiced by Dr. Ceesay. As he pointed out, “there are quite a few people who call themselves journalists, and their reports, especially those that are published online, definitely have an agenda behind how they are reporting these audit reports.”
