Days after fraud charges rocked the main referral hospital, the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital has initiated a separate audit.

Dr. Adama Sallah, the board chairman, and Dr. Abubacarr Jagne, the deputy chief medical director, have had contentious interactions. It follows allegations made by Dr. Sallah on Freedom Radio about hospital corruption, including inappropriate procurement, unapproved trips that cost hundreds of thousands of dalasis in per diem, and open corruption in the hospital.
He said senior authorities, including Dr. Jangne, were responsible for planning the purportedly corrupt actions.

In addition to refuting these accusations, Dr. Jange claimed that Dr. Sallah had attempted nepotism and frequently utilised his power in situations with potential conflicts of interest for his own gain.
The Standard inquired about these claims with Dr. Mustapha Bittaye, the Ministry of Health’s director of health services. A member of the EFSTH board, Dr. Bittaye stated that the board had written to the Ministry of Health asking for an audit, and the Ministry of Health had written to the Ministry of Finance asking for the services of an audit exercise concerning the operations and financial management of the hospital.
He affirmed that the exercise has already been initiated by National Audit Office auditors. He stated that the Ministry will not act until it has received the results of the audit exercise. Once the study is finished, he said there would be no cover-ups or sacred cows.

“We anticipate that every detail will be covered by the investigation. And as far as implementation is concerned, there won’t be any cover-ups or holy cows, Dr. Bittaye said.