By Mama A. Touray
The ongoing Local Government Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday noticed discrepancy in payment dates of vouchers filed by the cashier of Basse Area Council Ndabah Krubally during his testimony.
The commission noted the discrepancy when the witness was testifying on his involvement in voucher preparation as he claimed that sometimes his council makes payment first before raising vouchers and cheques, adding that sometimes the cheques and the vouchers are all prepared together.
Ndabah revealed that he was pressurized by the CEO to prepare cheques for allowances and fuel purchase without raising vouchers and that some of the cheques for fuel were issued in the name of the driver or in his name (Ndabah Krubally).
“I prepare most of the cheques. Sometimes we prepare cheques without a voucher. We prepare the voucher later. That was not a good practice,” Krubally said.
Cashier Krubally admitted that they flouted the rules, stating that the Director of Finance Lamin Suso and CEO Ousman Touray used to sign the vouchers in the absence of the CEO and the Finance Director, Malafi Badjie – the acting Finance Manager.
Ndabah said sometimes what is written with the hand is different from what is contained in the IFMIS system; “the vouchers are sometimes not the same”.
The witness disclosed that most of the transactions the Basse Area Council conducted were made on credit basis adding that on some instances the council pays the suppliers directly, but in some instances they pay suppliers through him.
The Commission received some vouchers from the witness concerning transactions he conducted. They were admitted into the records of the commission and marked as exhibits.
The Commission however noted several payments for fuel made to BsAC 1 Vehicle for each day D2,000 from 24 to 27 April 2022.
Lead Counsel Yakarr Cox asked the witness if it was possible for a vehicle to use D12, 000 in a space of 4 days. “No, it is not possible,” the witness responded.
When asked by Chairperson Jainaba Bah as to how much is given for fuel per week, the witness responded that “CEO takes 40 liters per week, the Chairman of the Area Council takes 40 liters per week and the Director of Finance takes 40 liters weekly.”
Cashier Krubally said they stopped using the cashbook in February 2021 after the coming of Director Lamin Suso, stating that it was wrong to stop the cashbook system.
While testifying on his role as a cashier at the Basse Area Council, the witness said he was responsible for preparing cheques and vouchers.
When asked by Counsel Patrick Gomez on the role of a cashier, Ndabah responded that what he understood is that “My role includes going to the bank to make withdrawals and to prepare salaries together with the Director of Finance, the IT Unit and the budget officer.”
Ndabah Krubally testified that he was a resident of Basse Koba Kunda and an employee of the Basse Area Council since 2018.
On how he was employed at the council, Ndabah said former Chairman of the Basse Area Council Foday Danjo, approached him in September 2018 to come to the council and become a revenue collector. He added that he was a revenue collector from 2018 to 2020 at the market.
He told the commission that in September 2020 he was redeployed to serve as the cashier of the council and informed the commission that he has never done any course or training on either accounting or finance.
