By Mama A. Touray
Former Basse Area Council (BsAC) finance director Lamin Suso has acknowledged the payment of D400,000 into his personal account by the council’s cashier but he said it was a refund for the money he lent the BsAC to pre-finance some of its activities.
Suso again appeared before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry (LGCI) on Tuesday as the commission continued its probe into the financial activities and administrative matters of the local governments from May 2018 to January 2023.
In his reappearance before the commission yesterday, Suso agreed with the commission’s deputy lead counsel Patrick Gomez when he told him that some BsAC staff deposited money into his Alatentu account.
Suso agreed that the council’s cashier NdabahKrubally on 30 July 2021, deposited D400,000 into his Alatentu account but claimed that it was a refund for the money he spent on pre-financing some of the council’s activities, saying he used to pre-finance some of the council’s activities.
However, according to the embattled former BsAC CEO Ousman Touray, he never authorized Suso to prefinance any of the council’s activities. Touray also pointed out that he never authorized Ndabah Krubally to pay the D400,000 to Suso’s Alatentu account.
When asked whether he had evidence to back his claim, Suso replied in the negative.
Meanwhile, the commission noted that BsACfinance manager Malafi Badjie on 18 October 2021, deposited D650,800 to Suso’s Alatentuaccount but Suso said the payment was as a result of the arrangement he and former CEO Touray made for payment of salaries. He added that Ndabah Krubally withdrew D700,000 from the council’s Trust Bank account but Chairperson Jainaba Bah contradicted him by telling him that Ndabah withdrew only D680,000. Suso told the commission that the D680,000 was withdrawn from the council’s account and deposited into his Alatentu account because the salaries were being processed and that it was not safe to keep the money in the office.
“Why will the council’s funds be in your account?” Lawyer Patrick Gomez asked.
“At the time, we believed that was the only measure that could safeguard the money to be able to pay salaries,” Suso responded.
Former CEO Ousman Touray told the commission that he did not authorize ManlafiBadjie to deposit the council’s funds to Suso’sAlatentu Account, saying he was on leave when the transaction was conducted.
“I was on leave and when I was going, I left some cheques with them,” former CEO OusmanTouray said.
In one of his latest commission appearances, Suso admitted receiving D118,750 from revenue collectors. He claimed that the D50,000 he received from revenue collector Lamin Mannehwas used to purchase fuel. However, the vouchers he submitted to the commission wereconsidered defective as they were not accompanied by the required supporting documents. The commission also observed that the transaction flouted procurement rules.
Former CEO Touray informed the commission that he became aware of the said transaction later and not at the time of the receipt of the money from Lamin Manneh. Suso admitted that he did not get any instruction from Touray for the transaction.
On auditors’ finding that he received D111,500from revenue collector Sulayman Bah, Susoclaimed that he spent the money on cash power and fuel for the council but said he did not receive any authorization from the former CEO.
Suso informed the commission that he also received D6000 from revenue collector Muhammed Suso, D9000 from revenue collector Basamba Jawneh, and D7000 from Manku Manneh without authority from the CEO. He, however, testified that the monies were for salary payments.