By Mama A. Touray
In the ongoing Commission of Inquiry into Local Councils’ operations, the Deputy Lead Counsel, Patrick Gomez, has put it to the witness- the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nema –Su Enterprise and supplier of Covid-19 items to Mansakonko Area Council (MKAC) that his testimony before the commission has been inconsistent.
Counsel Gomez stated that CEO Almamu Dibba kept on changing his testimony, stressing that Dibba told the commission earlier that he got his certificate from GPPA on the 28th of April 2020 and that was the same day he got awarded the contract by Mansakonko Area Council.
Counsel Patrick showed him a registration form of GPPA showing that it was on the 28th April that he applied, indicating that was the same day he got the GPPA certificate and got awarded by the council.
Dibba agreed that the signature on the form was his and all the details therein were correct but was quick to say he had not filled the form.
“Documents don’t lie, if you have another certificate or document, provide it,” Gomez told the witness.
The CEO responded that he did not have another document to prove this but maintained that the day he applied and the day he was issued the certificate were different days.
He explained to the commission that his brother Dawda Dibbawas the one who collected the certificate on his behalf and gave it to a driver to bring for him in Jarra Soma.
After the stand-down (break), CEO Dibba changed his testimony, saying he forgot, it was not his brother Dawda who brought the certificate for him but it was his brother’s son SaliueDibba.
“I remember during the break that my brother Dawda Dibba in 2020 was already in Italy.”
Meanwhile, emphasizing how he came to know about the council awarding contract for the supply of commodities (rice, sugar, and oil), the witness told the commission that he saw it on Facebook and also heard it on Jarra Soma community radio.
Dibba stated that during his first meeting with the council, he was informed that they needed him to supply them with rice and oil.