By Makutu Manneh
Ms Fatoumatta M. Saho, Internal Auditor for Basse Area Council continuing her testimony before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry (LGCI), said vendors had informed the audit unit that council’s revenue collectors normally split one ticket among two people even though each pays D10 as a duty.
“So, there will be a D10 that will not be accounted for because each vendor is supposed to get one ticket,” she said.
Saho said one vendor told them that she sometimes gives the revenue collectors D5 as duty but they would not give her any ticket, meaning the collector would take that D5 and the Council would know nothing about it.
She reported that they discovered that collectors give tickets to vendors when they pay their duties, but they would come back to take that ticket and give it to someone else. She added that the first person will be left with no ticket.
“Revenue Collectors also forgive vendors for not paying duty. When they go to vendors sometimes, they tell them they don’t have money. Many of the vendors don’t know the importance of paying these duties,” she said.
“The collectors don’t go to the Abattoir for revenue collection, instead members of the Abattoir do the collection and hand it over to the collector,” she said.
She said this is not good practice because they will not know whether everyone has paid.
Ms Saho was appointed in 2018 as a revenue collector for BsAC but was redeployed in March, 2021 as an Internal Auditor for the Council.
Sittings continue today, 20 September 2023.
