FactCheck: Is D33 Million Spent on UTG Bus Services Every Year?
Minister Ceesay at QTV
By Fatoumata Jaiteh
In his quest to highlight The Gambia Government’s efforts to promote University education, the Minister for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services claimed that the government “spends D33 million” annually to shuttle University of The Gambia (UTG) students to and from the new Faraba Banta Campus.
Claim: Speaking on the This Morning Show on QTV on 20th November 2024, Information Minister, Dr Ismaila Ceesay claimed that “The Gambia is the only country where the country builds a university in a place and takes students from where they live to go and learn at the university by providing bus services at a well discounted fee. We spend D33 million dalasis every year to provide these services for UTG students to go through the year.”
Watch the video of the Information Minister’s claim from the 1 hour, 9 minutes and 15 seconds mark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57gXb-svPpQ
FactCheck: To ascertain the funds allocated and spent on Students Bus Service to GTSC for all levels including Tertiary and Higher Education levels, our reporter conducted budget research and verified it with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs. According to the 2025 Approved Budget, D46 million has been approved to be spent on Students Bus Service to GTSC this 2025. It’s important to note that this allocation covers Students Bus Service to GTSC for all education levels.
Our research on Students Bus Service to GTSC for all levels indicates that from 2021 to date, only in 2025 was an amount greater than D30 million approved for spending. Meanwhile, it can be seen that the government underspent three times starting in 2022 by D5.4 million, in 2023 by D3.7 million, and in 2024 by D3.5 million. The government only overspent once in our 5-year review which occurred back in 2021 by D3.7 million.
Looking at the Student Bus Service to GTSC for Tertiary and Higher Education Level only, shows that this budget Line was introduced in 2024. This budget line was not present in the 2023 and 2022 Approved Budgets. This means that the government has only been spending on the Student Bus Service to GTSC for Tertiary and Higher Education from 2024 to date.
Engaging a senior official from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs revealed that only D3.5 million was spent on this budget line in 2024 and D20 million has been allocated to be spent on this Budget Line in this year’s 2025 Approved Budget.
One problem for UTG’s Faraba Banta Student Bus Service is that “students are still complaining about scarcity of buses,” as noted by the journalist interviewing Information Minister, Dr Ceesay on The This Morning Show on QTV. In response Information Minister, Dr Ceesay explained “that’s an operational issue.” Speaking to the President of the UTG Student Union Nyaninka Manjang he revealed that their Union is working with the University to gather data around the Faraba Banta Student Bus Service to ensure that there are sufficient buses provided for students shuttling to and from the UTG’s Faraba Banta Campus.
It’s anticipated that once the student dormitories and residential housing projects are completed and students move to Faraba Banta, this will reduce the demand for a Faraba Banta Student Bus Service.
Verdict: According to the MoFEA’s Approved Budget from 2022 to 2025, it can be seen that the Government has never spent more than D21.7 million on Student Bus Service to GTSC for all levels. In fact, the government has only spent D3.5 million in 2024 on Student Bus Service to GTSC for Tertiary and Higher Education.
This indicates that Information Minister Dr. Ceesay’s claim that the government spent D33 million every year for UTG Students to shuttle to and from the UTG’s Faraba Banta Campus is FALSE.
