By Mama A. Touray
The Internal Auditor at Basse Area Council, Fatoumatta M. Saho, has testified before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry that the council’s finance unit used to carry out transactions without her office’s approval.
According to her, the personnel of the finance unit used to conduct transactions without providing her office with the documents for endorsement.
Madam Saho made this disclosure in response to a question by Deputy Lead Counsel, Patrick Gomez, about the modus operandi of the council.
When further asked by the deputy lead counsel whether it was proper for the finance unit to sideline her office before transactions were done, she responded: “That was not proper.Normally, they spend already and then they will bring the vouchers to me for approval”.
Saho described this as post-auditing instead of pre-auditing. She added that her office was bypassed on so many occasions and that she informed the CEO about it.
She testified that the CEO promised to talk to the finance director Lamin Suso about ensuringall vouchers and supporting documents weresent to her office for approval before payments were made.
Some of the supporting documents that should have been tendered with a voucher, according to the witness, included invoices and the Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA) forms and approvals.
Counsel Gomez asked if that had stopped and the witness responded that it did not cease immediately and that the situation changed only a few months ago.
Testifying on her appointment as an auditor, Ms. Saho said she was informed by the CEO of Basse Area Council, Ousman Touray, that the General Council wanted to appoint her as aninternal auditor.
Saho said when the CEO informed her about the General Council’s decision, she told him that she did not have the qualifications and experience needed to handle the position. She said the CEO then told her that she would be trained and sent on an internship.
When asked by the deputy lead counsel whether she met the General Council as promised by the CEO before and after her appointment, she responded that she never met the General Council, regarding her appointment. Saho, however, informed the Commission that after receiving the redeployment letter, she did not start work immediately as an internal auditor because “I did not know what to do”. She added that it took her some months before she startedwork in August of 2021 and was subsequently sent on an internship in March of 2022 at theDirectorate of Internal Audit, where she spent six months.
Prior to her redeployment as an internal auditor of the council, Fatoumatta M. Saho was a revenue collector, who was collecting revenue from hawkers, according to her testimony.
Her redeployment letter dated 1 March 2021,was tendered and admitted into the records and marked as an exhibit. A copy of the letter written by the CEO and addressed to the Director of the Internal Audit Directorate,relating to her deployment for internship and a recommendation letter from the Director of the Internal Audit Directorate after her 6-month internship were tendered and admitted into the records and marked as exhibits.
Sittings resume today.
