Events

On November 25th, 2022, the Gambia National Audit Office (NAO) bid farewell to its outgoing Auditor General (Karamba Touray) as he retires from public Service after more than 40 years in service. Mr. Touray joined the NAO in September 1981 and spent his entire public service in the same institution. He became the Auditor General (AG) from June 2013 to November 2022.
To mark his departure, an in-house farewell ceremony was held to recognize his tremendous achievement as the AG of one of the most important public independent institutions of the country.
The farewell ceremony was attended by NAO’s board representative (Mr. Lamin Samateh), a former staff of the NAO from 1984 to 1993 (Mr. Kebba Ceesay) including the senior management and staff. The ceremony included goodwill messages from the board’s representative (Lamin Samateh), senior management’s representative (Almamie Mankajang), and the former NAO staff (Kebba Ceesay), representatives of the NAO ancillary staff (Biran Jobe – chief security; Ndey Kodou Cham – senior House Keeper; and Musa Suwareh – senior Driver) a poem titled: All is well that ends well- by NAO’s Senior HR Manager (Amang Sanneh) and presentation of gifts to Mr. Touray.
All the remarks consistently characterized AG Touray as a leader who has the characteristics of an exemplary leader and has manifested these traits throughout his leadership years, evidenced by the evolution of the NAO as the supreme audit institution of the Gambia. Mr. Lamin Samateh in his remarks shared that Mr. Touray has in him all the characteristics of a good leader which include: people skills, sincerity, loyalty, and firmness. He further shared that the farewell ceremony should also be a celebration for Mr. Touray as a result of the tremendous achievement he brought to the NAO. Sharing similar sentiments, Kebba Ceesay who has also been great friends with Mr. Touray shared that Mr. Touray is blessed with three key qualities: Contentment, Honesty, and Integrity.
Mr. Almamie Mankajang (Director of Audit) in his opening remarks highlighted some of the key developments that took place within the NAO which Mr. Touray pioneered as the head of the institution; such as his contribution to the independence of the NAO by the enactment of the first ever NAO Act 2015 which has strengthened NAO’s independence, as well as great efforts put into clearing the audit backlog of the Government’s Financial Statements, as well as negotiating for the construction of the NAO’s magnificent office structure which has led to people’s awareness of the office.
The NAO welfare committee’s representative (Njillan Fatma Roberts) also shared similar sentiments to the remarks of Mr. Mankajang by highlighting some of the staff welfare initiatives that Mr. Touray initiated and supported such as: constituting a formal staff welfare committee for support to one another during social events such as weddings, bereavements, christenings, retirement, etc.

In his farewell remarks, Mr. Touray thanked the NAO board, senior management, and staff for the support, appreciation, encouragement, and cooperation which made his leadership role easy as he was backed by hardworking and competent staff. He added, “I leave the NAO with fond memories of the last forty years and three months and with relationships with colleagues and stakeholders that will continue forever – I also believe I leave an organization well-positioned to meet the opportunities and challenges of being a national and international leader in public financial management in the 21^st century”.

In his closing remarks, NAO’s Deputy Auditor General 2 (Baba S Drammeh) shared that though sad to reluctantly have to bid farewell to Mr. Touray, it was also a day of celebration because Mr. Touray is leaving behind a legacy by which he will be remembered for years – adding that Mr. Touray was not only an asset to the NAO and the country but by extension to other regional and international affiliations of the NAO such as the African Organisation of English-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI-E), International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) communities and AFROSAI. Mr. Drammeh added that Mr. Touray carried along all stakeholders of the NAO and uplifted its brand image throughout his tenure. In conclusion, the DAG 2 implored the management and staff to keep up the momentum in the good work they do and to continue the same dedication, hard work, professionalism, and support to the new Auditor General in order for him to discharge his constitutional mandate and to further improve on the credibility of the office, built over the years.

Mr. Modou Ceesay is the new appointed AG of the NAO effective November 26^th, 2022. Until his appointment, Mr. Ceesay was the Director General of the Internal Audit Directorate at the Ministry of Finance.