By Mama A. Touray
Revenue collector at Basse Area Council (BAC) Lamin Manneh Wednesday told the Local Government Service Commission that the council’s director of finance received the council’s monies from him in contravention of the internal memo which directed that all revenue should be banked.
Earlier, the commission heard that BAC’s finance director Lamin Suso made a habit of personally collecting money from revenue collectors as opposed to the council’s directive that revenue collected should be taken to the bank.
Testifying before the commission at one of its sittings on Wednesday, Manneh said Susocollected the council’s funds from him on four occasions. The money, he stated, totaled D53,000.
Manneh also testified that Suso had directed his(Manneh) assistant to be depositing revenue to him.
“Sulayman Bah called me while I was at home and informed me that the director (Suso) collected the money from him,” he adduced.
Manneh said the amount that his assistant surrendered to Suso was D11,500 and that the finance director refunded it when he (Manneh) insisted on a refund.
Forex Bureaux
Manneh told the commission that there was a time when the council found it difficult to collect revenue from money transfer bureaux at the Basse market. He explained that the bureauxwere not willing to pay revenue but he was able to collect from them D9,000 when Susoassigned him to. He, however, explained that Suso later requested the money, claiming that the council was in dire need of cash.
The witness cast his mind back to 19 June 2021. Manneh said the 19th of June was a Saturday and he was at home when he received a call from finance director Suso that he should report to work even though Saturday was not a normal working day for the council.
“Director told me that they needed money to provide fuel for the NDMA team working on the road, which was in a deplorable condition,” Manneh explained.
He said he and the finance director himself went on the ground to collect D19,500, using the director’s vehicle.
“By then, I was not aware that I should not give the Director money. I was doing it as he was my immediate boss. I thought that he was my boss and whatever he asked me to do, I should do it,” Manneh told the commission.
He further testified that Suso called him the next day and asked that the D300 that every donkey cart owner was supposed to pay to be paid. Manneh said Suso pocketed the money collected from cart owners that Sunday.
“When I came to the office, I insisted that the money should be refunded because I already printed the digital receipts. They gave me the money and I deposited it in the council’s account,” he stated.
At this juncture, Commissioner Oreme E. Joiner inquired from the witness whether he and Susopocketed the monies that they collected.
“We collected the money and gave him the money,” Lamin Manneh said.
