The Gambian government has stopped the salaries of more than 1,400 public servants who failed to account for their presence during a nationwide staff audit, officials have announced.

According to a statement from government spokesperson Ebrima G. Sankareh, the audit was conducted by the Ministry of Public Service, Administrative Reform, Policy Coordination and Delivery, in collaboration with the Personnel Management Office (PMO).

The first phase of the audit, which focused on staff in the Ministries of Basic and Secondary Education, Health, Agriculture, and Livestock and Food Security, revealed that 1,424 individuals were absent without justification.

Financial institutions have been notified to recover salaries paid to the affected employees, while a list of names has been submitted to the Public Service Commission (PSC), recommending their immediate dismissal and the declaration of their positions vacant, in line with PSC Regulations No. 57.

A second phase of the audit, conducted in December 2024, extended to the rest of the civil service, including the armed and security forces. Preliminary findings show that a further 679 public servants could not be physically verified.

Their salaries are expected to be withheld from April 2025 pending any legitimate clarifications from the affected individuals

 Authorities plan to publish a list of the unnamed staff for recovery of wrongly paid salaries and possible dismissals.

In tandem with the staff audit, a review of pensioner records was carried out to identify and remove deceased beneficiaries from the government’s pension payroll.

The Ministry of Public Service says it is implementing measures to eliminate so-called “ghost workers” and prevent fraudulent salary and pension payment, savings officials say amount to millions of dalasis for the government.

By Adama Makasuba