By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT
The Gambia’s Management Development Institute (MDI) discussed its 2020 Annual Report at the National Assembly revealing that D19,5985,500 was lost due to the impact of Covid 19 and the closure of the Institute in early 2020. In addition to this MDI is currently owed D15,158,139 in unpaid tuition fees from 2014 to 2020.
MDI’s Deputy Director, Mrs Fatou A Barry noted that most of the tuition fees owed are from Ministries and Government Institutions. She explained how she “personally took two invoices to two Ministries, to their Permanent Secretaries, up until now not a single butut and those are over D1 million going to D2 million for services rendered between 2019 and 2018”.
During the discussions, the acting Chairperson of the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) Hon Kebba Lang Fofana revealed that “D13.6 million out of the D15.1 million was incurred during the last three years,” which he described as quite significant.
The Nominated member who is a Chartered Accountant noted that “if you also compare the value of outstanding debts to the total revenue that MDI generates you will realise that it is a significant chunk of your strength that is lying out there”.
D19.5 million was Lost due to the Covid 19 Pandemic in 2020
The MDI 2020 Annual Report states that “after the early, unexpected and un-consultative closure of the higher and tertiary institutions by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST), tuition fees could not be collected so, there was a loss of revenue of about D9,598,5000. In addition, the same estimated amount of D9,598,5000 was also lost because there was no enrolment for Semester Two”.
With regards to enrolment, the Report highlights that the number of students enrolled dropped from 1,485 in 2019 to 948 in 2020. Although this represents a reduction of 537 students this “is the first time in the history of the institution that male and female enrolments are at par”. With 489 males and 489 females enrolled, the institute had a balanced gender ratio in 2020.
D15.1 million of Tuition Fees Owed from 2014 to 2020
Besides the impact of Covid-19 causing losses to the Institute, the MDI is trying to recover over D15 Million in tuition fees owed from 2014 to 2020. The two amounts are different in that the first loss of D19.5 million due to the closure of the Institute cannot be recovered, however, the D15.1 million owed from 2014 to 2020 are fees which may still be recovered.
According to the Audit Report prepared by an independent audit firm, HAD & Co Chartered Accountant and Business Advisors, out of the D15,158,138 owed to MDI over D10 million is owed between 2020 and 2019. Below is a table highlighting the amounts owed from 2014 to 2020.
Ministries Owe MDI Millions
Speaking on the recommendation of the Audit Hon Fatou Cham of Sanneh Mentereng asked what the management is “doing to avoid these loses” and if they had “any other strategy different from the auditors to avoid these loses?”
MDI’s Deputy Director Mrs Barry explained that tuition fees come in two folds, the “regular programs from students and short-term programs”. The short-term programs are “tailor-made programs for the public sector, private sector and the NGOs,” said Mrs Barry. The Deputy Director added that MDI is facing challenges to recover funds from Institutions. To recover the funds Mrs Barry says MDI has written several invoices and “can quote one institution, a Ministry that owed us over D1 Million, or let me say D2 Million in the accounts of 2019. So that’s on short term alone”.
Turning her attention to regular programs paid by students and individuals Deputy Director Mrs Barry explains that they “send students home, denying them of exams or withholding certificates until they pay”. They soon realised that denying students certificates was not addressing the issue and when they started denying students from writing exams, they started to register some progress in recovering tuition fees owed.
Another mechanism they are exploring is an Online Students Portal where students can only register for courses after paying their fees. Mrs Barry solicited the Assembly’s support in engaging Ministries to recover the tuition fees owed to MDI.
To assist the MDI in recovering the tuition fees owed, Hon Sulayman Jammeh of Bundungka Kunda requested for a list of all the Ministries owing MDI. This will enable the Assembly chase Ministries to pay the amounts owed. As a former student of the MDI, Hon Jammeh recounted his experiences when he said “students will come and they will just pay the first instalment, finish [not pay the rest]. I think this is a big amount, D15 Million that’s too much”.
Another tactic revealed by Deputy Director Mrs Barry is that MDI will withhold transport refund or training allowance for students enrolled in the tailor-made courses for institutions and Ministries who haven’t paid their fees. The allowance is then deducted from the students’ fees to bring down the outstanding balances.
She revealed that “in terms of our regular programs you’ll be surprised that most of the sponsored students by their Institutions are the ones that don’t pay. So that’s another challenge”.
Asked when the list would be made available, she responded to say the next day.
Hon Musa Cham of Serrekunda and Hon Fatou Cham urged the MDI to consider taking legal action to make an example. Hon Fatou Cham recommended that “taking legal action would be the best idea because as you start it other Ministries will get afraid to try such action”. MDI’s Mrs Barry explained that the legal avenues “attracts cost and it’s time-consuming”. She added that “it’s difficult to take your partner to court, so all we could do is just to negotiate and then manage the debt for the collection”.
When Hon Musa Cham and Hon Fatou Cham continued to urge the MDI to consider legal actions acting Chairperson Hon Lang Fofana interjected to recommend that other avenues should be considered and exhausted including the efforts of Parliamentarians. He insisted that the list should be provided and the Committee will add its weight to recover the balances.
Hon Lang Fofana urged the MDI to ensure that there is an in-house mechanism to facilitate the recovery of tuition fees. The meeting continued as the MDI and members of the FPAC discussed additional mechanisms such as an Online Portal for students and learning from other institutions such as the University of the Gambia.
Another issue of misappropriation highlighted in the Audit Report revealed that “some senior management staff are paid telephone and fuel allowances whereas they are provided with official vehicles fuelled by the Institute and post-paid mobile phones sims at the cost of the Institute”.
The Audit Report also revealed that “there is a high risk of misappropriation of fuel leading to financial losses to the Institute” and the late payment of pension contributions amongst others.