State auditors have revealed that former chief medical director of The Gambia’s main referral hospital Dr. Ammar Jafari has embezzled over half-a-million dalasi of hospital funds and, they have now recommended to the hospital management to initiate an administrative action against him.
A review of payment vouchers and bank statements of both the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) and Dr. Jafari by auditors from the National Audit Office(NAO) revealed that the former chief medical director greenlighted payment of additional allowances to himself without the approval of the hospital’s board of directors.
Dr. Jafari reportedly told auditors that he was paying his rent from the money but auditors said the former chief medical director has misappropriated EFSTH funds by paying his rent from the hospital coffers without the board’s nod.
Auditors further revealed that Dr. Jafari also vacationed using hospital funds.
They’ve since recommended to the EFSTH Management to launch an administrative action against the erstwhile chief medical director for the recovery of the misappropriated funds, totalling D648,000. Dr. Jafari is said to have diverted these funds between 1st January 2021 and 30 April 2024.
