Three audit reports published by the National Audit Office (NAO) shows that the Gambia Government made over D410 million in overpayments to creditors, contractors and on electricity bills. The total sum of overpayments were observed by auditors over a three-year period covering 2021, 2022 and 2023.
According to auditors “there is a risk of overpayment and misappropriation of fund”. Meanwhile, in some instances auditors called the overpayments “a risk of non-compliance [with] Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA) Regulation and the contract”.
In 2023, the number of overpayments and amount of overpayments skyrocketed.
In 2021, some D3.6 million was overpaid, comapred with D1.6 million overpayments in 2022. The overpayments were flagged transactions from two different transactions. However, the overpayments shot up to over D404 million in 2023 bringing the total amounts overpaid to over D410 million.
What are overpayments?
These are payments made by the government exceeding the contractual amounts to be paid or exceeding the regulation limits such as when GPPA regulations require contractors to be paid a maximum of 50% advance.
Over D377 Million Overpaid to Unnamed Road Contractor
| Description | Amount (GMD) | Beneficiary and Reasons | Year |
| Contractor Payments | 377,696,321.87 | An overpayment of over 377 million to contractor. Instead of D1.12 billion, D1.49 billion was paid. | 2023 |
Above is a table summarising the biggest single overpayment highlighted by Auditors totalling over D377 million after a contractor who should have been paid D1.121 billion received over D1.499 billion instead. The unnamed contractor responsible for the construction of North Bank Lot 1 for the National Road Authority delayed the project by 22 months (almost two years).
Auditors concluded that there was “a risk of potential misappropriation of public funds due to overpayments exceeding the contract sum. This may result in the overstatement of expenditures in the financial statements”. They also note that the Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure “has been engaged, but yet to provide the management response.”
In a defiant statement issued by the Ministry of Transports Works and Infrastructure (MoTWI), they refuted the Auditors claims as “grossly misleading and patently false”. They claim that “the stated facts and documentary evidence were provided by the Ministry to the Auditors during the audit process”. Our reporters will make an effort to get a hold of the documents provided by the MoTWI. At the point of publication, no evidence has been presented to verify their claims.
Over D18 million Overpaid on Presidential Banquet Hall
| Description | Amount (GMD) | Beneficiary and Reasons | Year |
| President’s New Banquet Hall | 9,802,232.80 | Overpayment for construction of new Banquet Hall. Benefactors names not revealed. | 2023 |
| Electric Bill Payment Voucher | 8,635,312.50 | Overpayment of electric bill by over 8 million. | 2023 |
One revelation which has raised concerns about political will to address waste is the overpayments observed on the construction of the Presidential Banquet Hall.
According to Auditors, the initial contract sum approved by the GPPA for the construction of a New Presidential Banquet Hall was to cost taxpayers D23.9 million, however, this cost ballooned by 78% up to D42.6 million after some variations and additional works were approved. An additional D9.8 million was observed as overpayments on electricity-related bills. The revelation was confirmed after Auditors reconciled all the actual payments and flagged that a total of D52.4 million was paid instead of D42.6 million.
When Auditors questioned the President’s Office about this, they responded that “the project which was initiated by the previous regime, was to be upgraded both in terms of Bill of Quantities (BOQ) and specification to be fit for the purpose and the taste of the new government, hence the need for such variations”.
In response, auditors noted that the claim for the need for the overpayments have not been justified. Auditors warn that there is a risk of financial loss to the government and misstatement in the financial statement. The final cost of the new Presidential Banquet hall more than double its initial fee, from D23.9 million, the cost ballooned up to D53.9 million.
Another D8.6 million was flagged as an overpayment on vouchers for electricity bills for the New Presidential Banquet hall. An invoice of D7.8 million was raised for payment, however, somebody approved a payment voucher totalling D16.4 million. This resulted in the overpayment of D8.6 million on 2nd February 2023. Again, this is more than double the amount which should have been paid according to the invoice.
Loan Creditors Overpaid by Over D4.5 million
| Description | Amount (GMD) | Beneficiary and Reasons | Year |
| Meridian Repayment Schedule. Meridian is a creditor. | 3,637,541.00 | Meridian/ Risk of overpayment of interest by the MoFEA. | 2021 |
| Meridian Repayment Schedule. | 911,974.97 | Meridian/ Risk of overpayment of interest by the MoFEA. | 2022 |
According to Auditors, the government overpaid its loan creditor, Meridian [Bank] in 2021 and 2022 by over D4.549 million. Auditors flagged it up when they observed “a difference between interest as per the repayment schedule in the Meridian [Bank] and the creditors statements”.
In response, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) said that “it was tough to match up each payment from the start of the loans with the amounts on the bills because our creditor’s business calendar didn’t always match up with ours. But from now on, it should be minimal since we have fixed most of the issues in the system”.
Considering that in 2021 over D3.6 million was over overpaid to Meridian [Bank], less than D1 million was overpaid in 2022 and nothing has been flagged in 2023 highlights that, perhaps, the MoFEA has managed to address this issue from reoccurring.
Over D8.5 million Overpaid for Incomplete Stadium Refurbishment
| Description | Amount (GMD) | Beneficiary and Reasons | Year |
| Stadium CFTM Phase 1 | 7,539,589.85 | Government overpaid CFTM during contract payment of Phase I. D41 million paid instead of D33 million. | 2023 |
| Stadium CFTM Phase 2 | 1,000,000.00 | Government overpaid CFTM during contract payment of Phase II. | 2023 |
The more recent 2023 Audit Report highlights two overpayments on the Stadium Rehabilitation Project totalling over D8.5 million contracted to CFTM. The delayed rehabilitation works has forced the Gambia’s National Football Teams, both men and women of all levels, to play their home matches away since the Stadium was banned by the Confederation of African Football to play any FIFA level matches back in 2022.
After spending millions on the project Gambians are still not able to support their National Football stars at a live match on home soil. The first overpayment flagged by auditors was during Phase 1 of the project when D41 million was paid instead of D33 million – an overpayment of D7.5 million.
According to Auditors, the GPPA thresholds were not followed in Phase 1 because the “amount paid was equivalent to 55% of the contract value” which is more than the 50% threshold. GPPA Regulation dictates that “advance payments shall not exceed 50% of the total amount under any circumstances”.
Similarly, in Phase 2 of the project another overpayment was observed when auditors noted that instead of paying the contract amount of D16.8 million, the actual payments totalled D17.8 million which represented a D1 million difference.
Auditors note that there is a high risk of overpayment leading to misappropriation of funds and a risk of wrong certifications done by the supervisor. When management were questioned to justify the overpayments, they pointed to a payment voucher for the 10% payment milestone at an amount of D1.6 million. However, this did not address the finding which still remains unresolved.
Below are two additional costs which have been observed as overpayments that bring the grand total of overpayments up to D410 million for the three years.
| Description | Amount (GMD) | Beneficiary and Reasons | Year |
| Over Payments in Four Accounts | 736,158.82 | Social Security Housing, Social Security Employee Contribution, Civil Service Credit Union and Gov. of Abu Dhabi (Donation). Overpayment of Deposit Accounts | 2022 |
| BOQ Overpayments | 50,000.00 | Overpayment in excess of attached breakdown of BOQ. | 2023 |
Impact of Overpayments
To assess the impact of overpayments to the economy, our reporter contacted civil society organisations working on fiscal transparency that are actively publishing reports summarising the audit reports.
The Executive Director of the Center for Budget Monitoring and Transparency (CBMT), Lamin Dibba, highlighted that one major impact of overpayment for services is that “it increases resource constraints and limits resource allocation to other essential services.” He said that such practices “signal financial mismanagement and possible corruption, which hinders development.”
Similarly, the Executive Director of the Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice (EFSCRJ), Madi Jobarteh, described overpayments as “a silent but corrosive form of fiscal leakage that undermines both economic efficiency and public trust”.
He said that “every dalasi overpaid is a dalasi stolen from productive investment” and that such practices divert scarce national resources away from critical sectors like education, healthcare and agriculture.
Jobarteh warned that the NAO’s findings of millions lost to overpayments between 2021 and 2023 reflect “not just waste but structural inefficiency that weakens government’s capacity to deliver public goods”. He said that chronic overpayments “feed a culture of inflated pricing across the economy” and distorts markets, discourages competition, and fuel inflation in procurement and service delivery.
