By Mamadou Dem
Mr. Yankuba Colley, the outgoing Mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), was yesterday seen within the premises of the Janneh Commission at the Djembe Hotel. However, he is yet to give evidence before the Commission in relation to cash withdrawals from the Mobilization Account.
Earlier, the Accountant General Mr. Momodou Lamin Bah, reappeared to give evidence on the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Account.
Dwelling on the said account, he said it was correct that the account was opened by the Department of National Treasury in 2007 and the purpose was to improve poverty reduction.
According to him, when donor agencies disburse funds, they would send a team to assess and know the level of progress; that the former Government was qualified to receive debt relief to ease the debt burden on Government. Mr. Bah testified that the former Government should have met the trigger points to be qualified for debt relief; that some of the money received from the donors was meant to support the budget which was a direct expenditure and that the transaction was not consistent; that all expenditures were made as a result of directives from the Ministry of Finance.
At that juncture, Commission Counsel, Amie Bensouda, asked him whether the Ministry of Finance was receiving directives from another end, but he responded that this was not communicated to him.
According to him, the money from the donors was usually deposited into a standalone account at the Central Bank and there was direct expenditure from the account. Documents relating to the account were tendered and admitted as exhibits.
It was put to him by Commissioner Abiosseh George that the funds were not used for their intended purposes and he responded in the affirmative. He informed Commissioners that specific expenditures did not feature in the budget; that all Government funds should form part of the consolidated revenue fund. He confirmed that items spent from the funds were not derived from the budget.
Mr. Bah acknowledged that donor funds were supposed to be managed by his office but rather it was managed by the office of the former president.
Modou Mousa, the Managing Director of the First International Bank (FIB), appeared for the second time in relation to Kanilai Family Farm and KGI Accounts respectively; that KFF account was opened at the Kanilai branch in 2008 by the former president.
According to him, the total deposit was D100, 000 and the rest were interests accrued; that there was a withdrawal of D125, 000.
At that juncture, documents relating to the account were tendered and admitted as evidence before the Commission.
Next to testify was the Executive Director of Skye Bank, Mr. Olabole Ifabiyi, who said he was the Chief Operating Officer of the said Bank. Mr. Ifabiyi was summoned in relation to Dr. Yahya Jammeh Foundation Account and said it was a dalasi account; that there was a sub-account as well; that it was opened on the 11th September 2013, and the signatories to the account were Nancy Njie and Ardy Sarge. Mr. Ifabiyi told the Commission that the account was closed last year; that the last transaction was D234, 059.50 and this amount was transferred to Trust Bank; that there was an instruction from the board to close the account, further stating that the total credit was D32, 647, 675.94.
He said there was a deposit of D80, 000 and D48, 000 respectively; that on the 24thof April 2014, there was another deposit of D2.4 million.
Account opening information and correspondences relating to the account were admitted as exhibits.
Mrs. Fatou Lamin Faye, former Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, reappeared in connection to cash withdrawals from the Mobilization Account. The last time she appeared before the Commission, Counsel Bensouda asked her to account for the outstanding sum of D3, 000,000 from this account.
Faye testified that she did not have documents in relation to the sum of D37, 200 because Mr. Ismaila Sanyang, former Deputy Permanent Secretary at the office of the former president, told her that he could not get the receipt.
According to her, Mr. Yankuba Colley, was supposed to retire the sum of D384, 000, further noting that the sum of D230, 000 was to cover some mobilisation activities.
Documents produced by the witness were tendered and admitted as exhibits.
Mr. Mousa Mousa, the Managing Director of T.K Motors, along with his Sales and Marketing Manager, Degain Nyang, reappeared for the admission of numerous documents relating to the supply of vehicles to the former government. Folders from 2009 to 2016 were tendered and admitted as exhibits.
Hearing continues today.
