The National Assembly’s Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) has proposed cutting D6 million from the Office of the President’s 2027 budget and redirecting the money to the National Council for Civic Education (NCCE) to support its development programmes and personnel costs.
The recommendation is contained in FPAC’s consolidated report on the 2027 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, presented to the National Assembly on Monday by the Chairperson of the committee Hon. Alhagie S. Darboe.
According to the report, the proposed cut comprises D4 million from the Office of the President’s recurrent budget and D2 million from its development allocation.
“The Committee examined the Estimates for the Office of the President and proposed a reduction of the sum of D6,000,000 (D4,000,000 from the recurrent budget and D2,000,000 from the development budget) and redirected it to the National Council for Civic Education to support its development initiatives and personnel emoluments,” the report stated.
Beyond the proposed transfer, FPAC recommended an additional D17 million for the NCCE, comprising D14 million for operational and development needs and D3 million for personnel costs.
The proposed funding would help the council purchase a pickup truck and an official vehicle for its chairperson, as well as begin construction of its office building.
The committee also recommended reallocating D8.481 million from budget code 3111203 to code 3112118 for furniture and fittings, which had received no allocation in the proposed budget.
Meanwhile, FPAC reviewed the National Assembly’s proposed 2027 budget and noted that it represents a 0.5 per cent decrease from the approved 2026 allocation.
The report also identified an internal reallocation of D3.5 million within the Assembly’s recurrent budget.
In another recommendation, the committee proposed cuts totalling D39.65 million from the Judiciary’s proposed 2027 budget.
The reduction comprises D12.65 million from recurrent expenditure and D27 million from development spending.
The recommendations form part of FPAC’s wider review of proposed government expenditure for 2027.
However, the proposed changes are not final, as they remain subject to consideration and approval by the National Assembly during its examination of the government’s budget estimates.