By Makutu Manneh
Mr Basiru Taal, a former Revenue Collector of Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) was unable to tell the Local Government Commission of Inquiry (LGCI) the reason why he had a shortage of Forty-five Thousand Two Hundred and Ten Dalasi in 2022.
It was indicated in the KMC’s 2023 Internal Audit Report for the period 2022 that Taal made a total collection of Four Million Six Hundred and Fifty-four Thousand Three Hundred and Twenty Dalasi Fifty Butut but submitted only Four Million, Six Hundred and Nine Thousand, One Hundred and Ten Dalasi Fifty Butut.
Witness Taal informed the commission that he had paid this money, adding “I made a first payment of Thirty Thousand Three Hundred Dalasi and for the completion, I took a loan from the Credit Union.”
However, when Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez asked him why he had the shortage, the witness replied that he could not tell and that he did not know about it.
Counsel Gomez further told him that he complied with the Audit Report of his shortage and did not make any fuss about it as he just went ahead and repaid the money.
The witness said before the audit report came out, every transaction he made went to the Internal Audit and they had never informed him that he was suppressing revenue. He added that the cash books are always submitted to the auditors.
When asked by the counsel for the second time why he has this shortage, witness Taal replied that Fridays are referred to as half days and they (collectors) rush to make payments before 12:30 noon, saying this brings about the shortage because they should make payment to the cashier before the weekend.
Counsel Gomez asked him if he spends part of the revenues he collects, with the witness replying in the negative. He said sometimes it could be because of miscalculation.
Counsel Gomez disagreed with him on this. The commission asked the witness to provide his cash books from 2018 to 2023. He said he submitted this to the Internal Audit of KMC. He was asked to provide his appointment and confirmation letters.
The witness said he started work in KMC in 1980 and voluntarily retired in March 2023.
Another witness who testified was Mamie Fatou Jobe. She was questioned about the 2022 internal audit report which indicated that she has a shortage of Ten Thousand, Six Hundred and Fifty Dalasi.
This was her shortage out of the One Million, Seven Hundred and Seventy-four Dalasi collection she made for the whole year of 2022.
The witness said the amount should have been Ten Thousand and Five Hundred Dalasi, further informing the commission that this was not a shortage that is queried because she lost the receipt for it. She added that she paid this money to the cashier, Mamadi Jawo.
“When you lose your receipt you go back to the cashier and he will write a lost receipt for you and this is what happened in my case,” she said.
Counsel Gomez told her that the auditors did not indicate that it was an issue of lost receipt; what they indicated was that it was a total shortage.
She said she doesn’t deny what the auditors said, but she knows that she has paid the money and the receipt got lost.
At this juncture, she was released by the commission. However, she was informed that they would call Mamadi Jawo since she said she paid this amount to him and he is the one who issued a lost receipt to her.
