Are Gambian coronavirus patients staying in the world's most expensive hotel? This was the question on so many lips following the announcement by Minister of Finance Mambury Njie that they have already spent D143,3m on accommodation, food for the patients and purchase of various medical consumables.
According to him, the balance out of the D500m provided by the government for the fight against the deadly virus is D368.7m.
Renowned Gambian economist, Sidi Sanneh wrote on Facebook: "Can he be kind enough to provide the public with a statement of account i.e. what the D143M was spent on?"
He argued that the COVID-19 Special Fund should be administered through a Board of Trustees composed of government, private sector, civic society and ordinary citizens with a clear mandate to oversee the management of the Fund.
One Pa Louis Thomasi commented: "He said that 43.3 million was spent on hotels. He should explain the number of people they have in the hotels; which hotels are they lodge in and how much they are paying per day. we need a complete breakdown."
Sukai Bojang of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also wrote: "I never knew that the Ministry of Health had the capacity to spend D143m in one month."