Editorial: The Extravagant Travels of Former Auditor General Momodou Ceesay

JarraNewsTV Editorial: When the Auditor Becomes the Question — The Extravagant Travels of Former Auditor General Momodou Ceesay

In a country where every dalasi matters, the office entrusted with protecting the nation’s finances must be beyond reproach. That is why the newly surfaced travel chart linked to Momodou Ceesay, the former Auditor General of The Gambia, has sparked deep public concern and a wave of whistleblower-level scrutiny.

The data shows a startling pattern: near-continuous foreign trips, long hotel stays, high per diems, and an eagerness to attend every conference, workshop, or international gathering available. For a civil servant, the lifestyle appears more like that of a diplomat or a jet-setting executive than the head of a national oversight institution.

But the real issue is bigger than travel.

It is about trust.

The Office of the Auditor General holds the highest responsibility in uncovering financial mismanagement across government institutions. It is the watchdog—the one body expected to remain disciplined, frugal, and focused on the public interest.

Yet, the irony here is impossible to ignore:

No one audits the Office of the Auditor General.

The institution responsible for scrutinizing others has no internal or external mechanism that routinely scrutinizes its own spending. So when the Auditor General himself is seen engaging in frequent, costly international trips, the public’s confidence naturally collapses. If the watchdog is left unchecked, who then ensures accountability within the most critical accountability office in the country?

The emergence of this travel pattern also raises broader questions about Ceesay’s recent refusal of a ministerial appointment. A minister’s life is heavily domestic, tightly monitored, and subject to political and public scrutiny. It does not offer the same level of unrestricted international mobility, allowances, and luxury that these records suggest he grew accustomed to.

Was this globe-trotting lifestyle too comfortable to abandon?

While JarraNewsTV does not claim wrongdoing, the red flags are too obvious to ignore. At a time when The Gambia urgently needs strong financial guardianship, this situation reveals a deeper systemic weakness: a watchdog without a watcher.

If the Office of the Auditor General is allowed to operate without oversight, then national accountability itself stands on fragile ground.

JarraNewsTV will continue to follow this story as more details emerge.