Why do Public Enterprises and Agencies fail to submit their annual reports and financial statements proper to the Joint Committee of Finance and Public Enterprises of the National Assembly?
Why do they not want the lawmakers to make sure that the loans they ratified in the National Assembly or grants secured on behalf of the Gambian people are properly accounted for?
Is it that they want to hoodwink the taxpayers, who partly or wholly funded Public Enterprises and Agencies in this country?
We said in these pages the last time that it will all be there for us to see at the end of the exercise and, as it is at the moment, things are slowly and surely becoming clear for the general public to see.
It has been reported that the National Assembly has rejected the annual reports and financial statements of some public enterprises.
This must be seen to be done, because nothing can be more accountable than holding Public Enterprises/Agencies of any country accountable to the taxpayers.
Whether they’ve refused to submit or they submitted a poorly prepared report, Public Enterprises/Agencies should know that they are only deceiving themselves, because sooner or later their inadequacy or whatever will stick out like a sore thumb.
Then it will be very interesting for us all to see who was not doing something right or who is not taking the taxpayers seriously.
Yes, the exercise, as we expressed recently in these pages, may not be popular with some, especially those involved in dubious dealings, but we should all understand that it is geared towards performing lawful checks, scrutiny and oversight over Public Enterprises and Agencies, and the public service delivery systems.
Taxpayers should know how their money is being used, and this is one way of enabling them to do so
“Life is filigree work. What is written clearly is not worth much, it’s the transparency that counts.”
Louis Ferdinand Celine