By Makutu Manneh
Pa Sait Ceesay, former CEO of Janjanbureh Area Council has informed the Local Government Commission of Inquiry that the Council does not follow dictates of the finance manual.
Ceesay has previously appeared before the commission to give evidence as the former CEO of MansaKonko Area Council. He is the current Chief Executive Officer of Kanifing Municipal Council.
He has corroborated evidence given by Lamin Jassey (Former Finance Director and Internal Auditor of the Council) that they used to withdraw money in bulk and he would keep the money with him.
The witness said they only issue cheques for transactions amounting to Five Thousand Dalasi (D5,000) and above while transactions of less value are paid through cash.
A voucher of the council dated 11th August 2022 with the sum of Twenty-Seven Thousand, Nine Hundred Dalasi (D27,900) for the construction of four (4) toilets was shown to him.
Former CEO Ceesay said the voucher was for the purchase of tiles, adding that there was no requisition attached to the voucher. The witness said there was no contractor, but the project was supervised by Alieu B. Gaye, the Physical Planning Officer for Central River Region. He narrated that Alieu Gaye is an employee of the Department of Physical Planning and was stationed in the Council.
On the process of giving the contract to Alieu Gaye, he admitted that it was not a contract. He said if it is more than D500,000, they have to advertise and if it is less, they have to adopt the best operation.
“Which method do you adopt?” Counsel Patrick Gomez asked.
The witness replied, “We did request for quotation.”
He was asked how to conduct procurement using a request for quotation. The witness said that Form 101 was not addressed to anyone.
Counsel Gomez told him there are three (3) forms and each of them was supposed to be sent to the suppliers identified but they were not properly raised.
Witness Ceesay agreed that the forms were not properly raised.
He added that the project was an in-house project and they can implement it on their own. He was asked to cite the law, but the witness did not.
The witness testified that there are projects that the Council’s planning unit can implement, but in this case, the planning unit was dormant and that was the reason for giving it to the Physical Planning Officer, Alieu B. Gaye.
He said he could not explain the content of the voucher, adding three (3) invoices were attached to it.
“Why can’t you explain it?” Gomez asked.
The witness said he could not ascertain the mode of payment. He added that there is no receipt of payment, but there are three (3) invoices. One of the invoices came from Kassa Electrical and was addressed to the CEO by name. This means Pa Sait Ceesay was the customer, as per the invoice.
“The first issue is there is no request – requisition, the second issue is money was withdrawn and finally there was no receipt. You neglected the law. Therefore, we cannot know whether the payment was genuine or not,” Counsel Gomez said.
“Yes,” the witness answered.
Eight (8) other vouchers with the numbers 00355, 100103, 000172, 000438, 000156, 00405, 000026 and 000213 were tendered after the witness identified them. The Commission admitted them in evidence and marked them as exhibits in a bundle.
One of the vouchers was for the purchase of timber for the construction of the toilets. The witness said the necessary information on the requisition was not complete. He added that the requisition was not signed. It was not accompanied by the name and signature of the person receiving the money.
The other voucher was for the purchase of fuel for JAC 1 vehicle dated 30th of August 2022 being used by the former Chairman of the area council. The amount was Eleven Thousand Dalasi (D11,000).
The third voucher was for building a website for Fifty-One Thousand, One Hundred and Thirty Dalasi (D51,130). On how it happened, the witness said the person wrote to the Council and it was approved.
Another voucher was brought and the witness said it was for donation by JAC as contribution to the Janjanbureh International Festival.
The witness said none of the payments passed through the Internal Audit Unit because it did not exist at the time. He added that decisions were made by him and the director of finance.
He began his work in the area councils in 1993 as a revenue collector. He passed through different ranks as senior revenue collector, accounting officer, and accounting assistant and was subsequently promoted to finance manager and later finance director. He served in various councils including Basse Area Council, Mansakonko Area Council and Janjanbureh Area Council (JAC).
He said before his arrival, the JAC was without an office and they used to work from the office of the Governor of Central River Region (CRR) for almost two (2) years. He added that they built their own complex and then moved in.
He said as the former CEO of JAC, he was the chief accounting officer of the Council and was also responsible for the day-to-day administration of the council. He added that during his time, there was an internal auditor appointed, but the person served for only four (4) months and later resigned based on personal grounds. He said from that time, the Council did not have an internal audit officer until he left the JAC.
He said between 2018 and 2020, JAC’s complex was constructed and later furnished with furniture and office equipment. He explained that JAC contracted Fatima Trading for the supply of furniture, televisions and curtains. He said Four Hundred Thousand Dalasi (D400,000) was used to purchase furniture and curtains and Three Hundred Thousand Dalasi (D300,000) was used to purchase curtains and television sets.
