Ousman M Jobarteh, managing director of the Gambia Ports Authority, has said the National Audit Office has taken charge in investigating corruption claims at the ports.

At least four GPA staff, suspected of fraud, have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigations.

“We have done our internal investigation but it couldn’t go further because the time frame given to them was short and the case contained lots of issues. 

“And we handed over the matter to the police and when they also started investigating, they also found out that they needed support to make their work easier,” he said.

“That’s why we call another sector of the government called the National Audit Office and they are there for more than a month. 

“So, what we asked them to investigate is too much which will go back to 2019. To find out how things were going in order to avoid such repetition. 

“And we have changed and reversed the workflow, like where you start with is where you last to touch to avoid such issues happening,” Mr Jobarteh added.

“We are going to computerise our system because what we suspected is that they were reducing the payments of clients but not that they were falsifying the papers just how people think it was. But we will do a thorough investigation about it.

“We will know what caused it and we will make it public and anyone found wanting will be dealt with according to the laws. 

“But we will bear some patience with the national audit in just some few months to come. They will come with a very comprehensive report to show how this was going,” he continued.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba