By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT
The Gambia has been ranked 110 out of 117 countries for the first time by the Open Budget Survey’s (OBS) latest report on Budget Processes, placing it above Somalia and Sudan but below Equatorial Guinea and Burundi. The survey conducted with an in-country expert and reviewed by the authorities concludes that other ECOWAS countries like Nigeria (97), Senegal (59) and Sierra Leone (39) implement a more transparent and participatory budget process than the Gambia.
The survey results for The Gambia were based on a questionnaire completed by the Executive Director of Gambia Participates, Marr Nyang, a Budget Advocacy and Anti-Corruption watchdog based in The Gambia. The draft questionnaire was also reviewed “by a representative of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs”. According to the methodology “only documents published and events, activities, or developments that took place through 31 December 2018 were assessed in the OBS 2019” which was published on 26th August 2019.
The OBS is the world’s only independent, comparative assessment of different country’s budget process. The survey compares public access to budget data, public participation in the budget process and the roles of the National Assembly and the Audit Office in the budget process. The Gambia scored 4 on Transparency, 9 on Public Participation and 44 on Budget Oversight out of a total score of 100 for each criterion.