By Makutu Manneh
Four (4) revenue collectors from the Brikama Area Council have testified before the Commission of Inquiry into the Local Government Councils to give account of how they misused the funds of the Council. Pa Sanjally Bojang, Anna Jatta, Ebrima K. Jobarteh and Bakary Drammeh all testified and admitted before the Commission that they expended huge sums of Council funds without depositing the monies in the accounts of Council.
Revenue collectors are the powerhouse of area, municipal and city councils. They are entrusted with official receipts of the councils to collect money and deposit in the bank accounts of the councils. Each collector is issued with cash books to record the details of their collections and deposits. Each collector is expected to go to the Council to do weekly submission or reconciliation with the Internal Audit Unit of the Council.
Pa Sanjally Bojang testified on the 14th of March 2024. His written statement dated 22nd of February 2024 was admitted in evidence.
Bojang began working Brikama Area Council (BAC) in 2002 and had worked in various units in the Council rates and licensing units.
The witness was questioned about the collections he made as a revenue collector and he argued that he was diligent as he has records that are accurate to account for his all collections. He provided one cash book and claimed that the other was missing. Bojang’s first excuse was that he lost his exhausted cash book in the 2021 windstorm, which affected his house. He provided a police report dated 15 September 2022 he obtained a year after the windstorm regarding loss of cash book.
The witness testified that the windstorm incident happened in 2021, but he reported the issue in 2022. The witness testified that he was doing weekly reconciliation with the internal audit unit of the BAC. He insisted that he deposited all his collections. Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez continued with the examination and confronting the witness with different pieces of evidence. This was when Bojang began admitting that he did deposit all his collections. Lawyer Gomez used the witness’ own cash book and the bank deposits to show that he was not truthful to the Commission.
Counsel Patrick Gomez informed the witness that auditors found out that there were GTRs and cash books that were not presented for audit process. The auditors indicated that the witness did not submit his two receipt books (GTR Books).
“Your incident happened in 2021 and it has nothing to do with the audit,” Counsel Gomez told the witness
The witness testified that he submitted his receipt books to the Brikama Area Council to one Yaya Bah.
“Do you have evidence for that?” Counsel Gomez asked.
“I don’t have evidence,” the witness said.
“Did you sign anywhere that you surrendered the receipt books?” Gomez asked.
“No, I did not sign anything,” the witness said.
He was asked about the monies collected in the two GTR books. The witness said the monies were submitted to the Principal Cashier.
The witness claimed that his books were audited by the internal audit unit of the council and it was waiting for the National Audit Office (NA) for auditing.
The witness said he was informed by the former CEO Modou Jonga that he was supposed to pay Sixteen Thousand Dalasi (D16,000) for the receipt books he failed to submit. The witness said he has paid the Ten Thousand Dalasi (D10,000), but he still did not pay the balance of Six Thousand Dalasi (D6,000).
A letter dated 14 November 2022 signed by the Acting Director of Administration Ebrima Sawaneh addressed to the witness on behalf of the CEO of BAC was tendered and admitted in evidence. There was the issue of deposit slips that were not presented for audit purpose. The auditors indicated that the witness did not present deposit slips.
The witness provided a cash book covering from July 2020 up-to-date. It was tender and admitted into evidence. It was for his license collections.
The auditors queried about missing funds for the period April 2022 and July 2022 amounting to Twenty Thousand Dalasi (D20,000). Counsel Gomez said the audit query dismissed the claim by the witness that he used to do reconciliation with the internal auditor of the Brikama Area Council. The witness changed his statement that he was not doing weekly reconciliation with the internal auditor. The new version of his testimony was that he only goes to the internal audit only when he collects money.
The witness in September 2022 collected D27,250 but he deposited D26500 – meaning he did not make the deposit of the whole sum he collected.
“That was a mistake in my calculation,” the witness said.
“How was that an issue of mistake,” Counsel Patrick Gomez asked.
“I said it was a miscalculation on my side,” the witness said.
Counsel Gomez told him that it was certainly not an issue of miscalculation because the amount collected was more than what was deposited in the council’s accounts. He was told that his claim of miscalculation was untenable since the cash book records the collections and the bank deposits shows what was deposited into the account. He accepted and said “I now understand.” He admitted that he knew that his collection was more than what he deposited in the bank.
“I should pay the money,” the witness said.
Also, in February 2022 the witness collected Ninety-Eight Thousand Five Hundred Dalasi (D98500), but he deposited Ninety-Eight Thousand Dalasi (D98,000) in the council’s account.
“It is wrong to say your cash book is in tack,” Gomez told the witness.
“I agree,” the witness said, adding that “It is miscalculation.”
The Counsel cited several other variances in the amounts collected and what was deposited.
“This happens when we are doing calculation,” the witness said.
“You cannot sit here and tell us the auditors are wrong when your cash book is having issues,” Counsel Gomez said.
“I just know that now. It was miscalculation on my part,” the witness said.
The witness was taken back to the issue of the missing book, which he said was lost.
“No one would ever know how much you collected and what happened to that money,” Counsel Gomez said.
The witness reiterated that he was under oath and what he stated was the truth. He testified that he did not have evidence to substantiate his claim. The missing book had 100 paper sheets.
“I submit everything to them [in the Council],” the witness said, adding that he conducted a 2-hour search in the store of the Council but he saw only one GTR book.
Counsel Gomez used the witness’ cash book to cross-examine him. He referred to several transactions. In one of the transactions, the witness collected Thirty-Six Thousand Five Hundred Dalasi (D36,500) but he only deposited Twenty-Nine Thousand Five Hundred Dalasi (D29,500).
“The balance should be paid [by me],” the witness said.
In another transaction, he collected Sixteen Thousand Two Hundred and Fifty Dalasi (D16,250) but he did not deposit it and there was no receipt.
“I don’t understand,” the witness said when Counsel Gomez read it from his cash book.
“This is your cash book. Explain to us,” Gomez told the witness.
“I don’t understand this,” the witness said again.
“You collected the money and it is not posted and you have to pay for it,” Counsel Gomez said.
“Yes, I agree that I should pay for it” the witness said.
In another transaction in June 2022, the witness was given a receipt of Forty Thousand Dalasi (D40,000), for a collection that was more than that amount. He could not provide an explanation.
He was released with the instruction to do a search for the missing documents. He was also asked to provide some documents.
Anna Jatta’s testimony was straightforward as her testimony took 59 minutes. She began working in the Brikama Area Council (BAC) in 2001 as a Secretary and was deployed as a revenue collector.
The 45-year-old said she took a voluntary retirement in 2006 due to family issues. She applied to return to the BAC and she was accepted back.
She said in 2018 she was a rates and tax collector and in 2019 she was moved to the licensing unit.
She said since 2018 to date she received only two (2) cash books – one for licensing and the other was for rates. She brought the one for the licensing but did not come with the one for rates.
“Why did you not bring it?” Counsel Gomez asked.
“I don’t know you will need it,” the witness said.
She was asked by the Commission to bring the rates cash book. The license cash book of the witness covering 2022 to date was tendered and admitted into evidence. Her written statement dated 23 November 2023 was tendered and admitted into evidence.
The witness said she collects and keep the money with her until Thursday when she goes to the bank to deposit her weekly collections in the BAC accounts at either Eco Bank or GT Bank. She added that she does not do daily deposits of her collections.
It was also discovered that the witness collected One Million Five Hundred and Forty-Two Thousand Five Hundred Dalasi (D1,542,500) between April 2022 and July 2022 in revenue. She was informed about the internal audit finding against her regarding her collections during this period. The BAC internal auditors highlighted that the witness did not deposit Twenty-Nine Thousand Five Hundred Dalasi (D29,000). The witness accepted the audit finding.
“Why was there this shortage?” Counsel Gomez asked.
“It is true. At that time, I was sick and I was supposed to do an operation. So, my work schedule was not consistent. I sometimes stay for a week or more without going to work,” she said.
“So, you decided to use the money for your operation?” Counsel Patrick Gomez asked.
“Yes,” the witness answered.
She said she applied for a Seventy Thousand Dalasi (D70,000) loan but the Council gave her Forty Thousand Dalasi (D40,000). The witness provided bank deposit slips and a receipt from the Brikama Area Council dated 8th of February 2024 regarding her payment of the D29,000 shortage.
Three deposit slips from Eco Bank were tendered by the witness and were admitted in evidence. The deposits were Fourteen Thousand Dalasi (D14,000) on 30 November 2023, Eight Thousand Dalasi on 21 December 2023 and Twenty-Nine Thousand Dalasi (D29,000) on 8 February 2024.
“Mrs Jatta you know what you did was wrong. This is public funds and you were supposed to deposit it in the bank. You were not supposed to use it,” Counsel Patrick Gomez said.
“Yes, I know,” the witness answered.
The witness claimed that she deposited all the sums of monies she collected, but Counsel Gomez confronted the witness with the cash book and the bank deposits to show that there were huge sums of money she did not deposit in the accounts of the Council. The witness concurred with the Counsel and admitted that there were still some funds that she did not deposit.
In one of the transactions, the witness collected Thirteen Thousand Five Hundred Dalasi (D13,500) in 2022 but she deposited Seven Thousand Dalasi (D7,000). In another transaction she collected D53,000 was collected in August 2022 but the witness deposited D52,000. The same month the witness collected Nine Thousand Five Hundred Dalasi (D9500) but she deposited only Seven Thousand Dalasi (D7000). There were other transactions in the cash book which showed the same trend. The witness admitted that she was not depositing the whole sum. The witness collected Eighty-Three Thousand Dalasi (D83,000) in June 2023 but she deposited only Forty Thousand Dalasi (D40,000). This means there was a balance of Forty-Three Thousand Dalasi (D43,000). The witness admitted and stated that she later deposited Fifteen Thousand Dalasi (D15,000) and Thirteen Thousand Five Hundred Dalasi (D13,500). She was told that will still be a total deposit of Sixty-Eight Thousand Five Hundred Dalasi (D68,500). That does not cover the whole sum she D83,000 she collected.
“What happened to the balance? Why you would have the balance? Why would you not deposit the whole monies collected?” Counsel Gomez asked.
“I use the money,” the witness answered.
“Why will you do that?” Counsel Gomez asked.
The witness was silent and did not respond to the question.
“When I look at your cash book, I see so many instances of shortages,” Counsel Gomez said.
“Yes,” the witness answered.
“You have shortages almost every time,” Counsel Gomez said.
“Yes,” she said.
Ebrima K. Jobarteh’s two (2) written statements dated 9th of November 2023 and 12th of March 2024 were admitted in evidence. He joined BAC in 2009 as a senior revenue collector, a position he is still holding.
He was asked about the GTR Books and the Cash Books. The witness said they obtained the cash books and the GTR Books from the Council. The cash book of the witness covering the period from 2017 to date was admitted in evidence.
On the audit process, the witness said they used to go with their cash books and GTRs (receipt books) weekly for auditing.
“It appears that almost in every audit your record shortages?” Counsel Gomez asked.
“Yes,” the witness answered.
He was asked how often he used to face the internal auditors. The witness said he was frequently sick at the time – in 2020 and 2022.
The Commission noted in 2022 the witness recorded a shortage of Two Hundred and Ten Thousand Six Hundred and Nineteen Dalasi Eighty-Five Butut (D210,619.85). The witness admitted and said he began repaying the sum. He said the money was spent on his medical bills and on his family affairs.
“I deposit but I don’t deposit all,” the witness said.
The witness said he was surprised with the figures the auditors claimed but when they did the reconciliation he realised that the internal auditors were right.
He was asked about the Forty-Six Thousand Dalasi (D46,000) and Twenty-Six Thousand Dalasi Four Hundred Dalasi (D26,400) collection he made without depositing it in the bank account. The witness admitted but said the D46,000 was a mistake by the auditors because the amount should have read Twenty-Nine Thousand Dalasi (D29,000). The witness provided bank deposit receipts to support his claim that the amount should have been D29,000 instead of D46,000 as queried by the internal auditors.
“Why did you deposit less than you collected?” Counsel Patrick Gomez asked.
“I don’t mean to do it, definitely, but because of condition,” the witness said.
Counsel Patrick Gomez told the witness that the excuse he gave for spending the council money without banking was not true. The witness repeated that he spent the money on his medical bills and family issues.
“Almost every page in your cash book has a shortage,” Counsel Gomez told the witness.
“My responsibility is too high,” the witness answered.
“I regret this. Definitely, I regret this,” the witness said.
The witness said in 2018 and 2019 he did not record a shortage in his cash books.
“Don’t say that. Your cash book is here and we are looking at it,” Counsel Gomez told the witness.
The witness stated that he made a Twenty-Five Thousand Dalasi (D25,000) repayment to the Council this month. When asked about the source of the fund, he said his sister (Tako Bayo) in the United States of America sent her through another sister (Fatou Jobarteh).
In 2020, the Commission noted that the witness collected Four Thousand Dalasi (D4,000) without depositing it.
“It could be that it was the time I was sick and I forgot about it,” the witness said.
Counsel Gomez told the witness that he used to collect revenue for three (3) months without depositing the funds in the account and going for auditing. The witness insisted that the funds were being deposited. He was shown his cash book to confront him. The witness noted that from April to June 2019 he did go for auditing.
“Mr Jobarteh, it is correct that using the monies you collected on your private affairs is wrong,” the witness answered.
“It is very wrong,” the witness answered.
Bakary Drammeh joined the Brikama Area Council (BAC) on the 1st of October 2004 as a revenue collector.
The witness said in 2022 he was informed by one of the auditors in the Council that he entered some figures in his cash book, but he did not deposit the money. He added that he deposited the money in 2023.
“Why will you keep money for a year without depositing it?” Counsel Patrick Gomez asked the witness.
“It was my fault. It was a family pressure, to be frank,” the witness said.
“Counsel, we, at the Area Councils, only have the benefit of salary,” the witness said.
“So, does that mean you should steal?” Counsel Gomez asked.
“No,” the witness replied.
The witness said he had paid his Six Thousand Dalasi (D6,000) shortage into the Council’s account.
The witness made admissions before the Commission that he made certain underpayments of revenues he collected. The witness said most of the shortages went to fares they used to pay.
“That does not explain why you embezzle council’s funds,” Gomez told the witness.
“I know that it is not right,” the witness replied.
The Commission noted that the witness did not deposit One Hundred and Eight Thousand Eight Hundred Dalasi (D180,800), but the witness said he went back to the audit unit of the BAC and did a reconciliation with one auditor, Amadou Jobarteh. He added that this was when they found out that the money was Six Thousand Dalasi (D6,000) instead of the D108,800.
“This is how you people do to clear you wrongs in the eleventh hour,” Counsel Gomez told the witness.
Gomez pointed out that the internal audit cleared the witness for February 2022. He told the witness that the collection being queried was from the 1st of April 2022 to July 2022 amounting to Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dalasi (D350,000). The witness testified that he was also cleared for the D350,000.
Counsel Gomez asked the witness to read from his own cash book all the collections he made from April to July 2022. In April 2022, he collected D18,400, D16,800, D5000 and D3200. In May 2022 he collected D7,200, D6,000, D20,000 and D6,000. In June 2022, he collected D8,400, D14,800, D 10,600, D11,000, D17,200 and D26,000. In July 2022, he collected D26,000, D28,200 and D14,800.
“You still haven’t reached D300,000. How were you cleared?” Counsel Patrick Gomez asked.
“I never heard this from the auditors,” the witness answered.
“Were you cleared by the auditors?” Gomez asked again.
“Yes,” the witness answered.
“Show us,” Gomez told the witness.
The witness changed his statement and said he was not cleared by the auditors.
