President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said he had submitted the results of the audit of the management of public finances by his predecessor to the Court of Auditors. Oddly, members of the Court of Auditors claim to have not yet seen the famous report from the Senghor Palace. No doubt there is confusion on the Boulevard of the Republic, between the Presidential Palace and the headquarters of the Court, on the same avenue. 

In his address to the Nation on September 12, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced the upcoming publication of the audit of the public accounts of the previous regime. He stated: « As soon as I was installed, I undertook an inventory, as required by Article 1.7 of the law on the Code of Transparency in the Management of Public Finances. The results of the audit submitted to the Court of Auditors for validation highlight public management marked by levity that has caused deliberately hidden slippages in the management of public finances, with an uncontrolled evolution of the wage bill, debt and interest on the debt, a lack of control over subsidies and a slippage in drawings on external resources. » Bassirou Diomaye Faye adds: « The shortcomings noted have led to a serious deterioration in the framework of our country’s public finances. The government, after discussions with technical and financial partners and other partners, will return to the subject in detail and the report approved by the Court of Auditors will be published. » 

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If all this is in the normal order of things, it remains surprising that no member of the Court of Auditors, among those that Le Quotidien has questioned in recent days, has been able to confirm having received the audit reports sent by the Presidency of the Republic. However, the headquarters of the two institutions are separated by only the length of an artery. And time does not plead in favor of slowness. Because, the Code of Transparency in the Management of Public Finances, cited by the President, and to which he refers, indicates precisely in its article 1.7 that he cited, that « within three months following each new presidential mandate, the overall situation of public finances and in particular the situation of the State budget and its debt, is the subject of a report prepared by the government. This report, audited by the Court of Auditors, is published within the following three months. »

Given that President Faye was installed on April 2, the audit report should have been completed and sent to the Court of Auditors by July at the latest. The financial magistrates would then have until the beginning of October to audit this report, before making it public, as they do with all the reports they produce. If, as those who spoke to Le Quotidien say, they have not yet received the document, one wonders whether it is still useful today.

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As, in view of this situation, the document, if it were sent on September 12 as stated by the President of the Republic, could not, in respect of the 3-month deadline provided for by law, be ready until December at the earliest. That is to say, well after the Legislative elections scheduled for November 17.

Furthermore, according to the members of the Court of Auditors, the report requested by the Executive would not really be essential to assess the situation of public finances before 2023. Indeed, the Court has already validated the Budgetary Settlement Laws for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 management reports. These laws have even been adopted by the Assembly. The Court of Auditors could therefore not go back on its own work, and especially not go back on its word, because the adoption of the Assembly is done almost on the basis of the reports of the Court of Auditors. All that remains to be approved and voted on by the National Assembly would therefore be the 2023 management report.

If Bassirou Diomaye Faye wanted fast results, he could have referred to the work already carried out by the Court of Auditors, and thus saved time.

By Mohamed GUEYE / mgueye@lequotidien.sn 

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH