The National Assembly’s Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) has proposed cutting more than D72 million from the National Audit Office’s proposed 2027 budget, reducing its allocation from D542.6 million to approximately D470.4 million if the recommendation is approved.
The proposed reduction is part of a wider review of government spending estimates by the committee, chaired by Alagie S. Darboe. Its consolidated report on the 2027 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure outlines adjustments affecting several public institutions.
According to the report, FPAC wants D72,188,440 removed from the National Audit Office’s proposed allocation. The reduction comprises D32,988,440 in recurrent expenditure and D39.2 million from development spending.
“The Committee proposed the reductions of the sum of D32,988,440 from the recurrent budget and the sum of D39,200,000 from its development budget, amounting to a total deduction of the sum of D72,188,440,” the report stated.
The report does not specify which audit activities or development projects would be affected by the proposed cuts.
Beyond the National Audit Office, FPAC has recommended a number of reallocations involving the Office of the Vice President and other government institutions.
For the Office of the Vice President, the committee proposed redirecting D2.5 million from its recurrent budget, together with D4.5 million in identified savings, towards personnel costs at the National Centre for the Coordination of Early Warning.
It also recommended an additional D3 million for personnel emoluments at the National Population Secretariat.
A further D8 million from the committee’s identified savings would go towards the Social Protection Secretariat’s development budget to fund a project aimed at supporting vulnerable young people and women.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs is also facing proposed reductions totalling D6.9 million. Of that amount, D2.4 million would be deducted from recurrent spending and D4.5 million from development expenditure.
Other institutions targeted by the proposed adjustments include the Office of the Ombudsman, which would lose D300,000 from its recurrent budget, and Centralized Services, whose allocation would be reduced by D5,141,742.
FPAC also proposed cutting D2.3 million from the budget of the Ministry of Public Service, Administrative Reforms and Policy Coordination. The adjustment consists of D1.6 million in recurrent expenditure and D700,000 in development spending.
Within that adjustment, the committee recommended allocating D500,000 towards the purchase of a generator and D200,000 for the construction of an office building.
The recommendations are based on FPAC’s review of proposed public expenditure for the 2027 financial year. But they are not final yet, with the National Assembly having to debate and approve the proposed changes before the budget is finalized.
