By Arret Jatta
Omar Joof, the Market Master of Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), on Tuesday 23rd September, disclosed at the Local Government Inquiry Commission(LGIC) that the variances in his revenue collection and submission were a result of miscalculation.
He said this in his testimony before the Commission when he was confronted with the National Audit Report 2017 to 2019 which indicated that there are variances in his collection and submission of the revenue.
At first, the witness said he always goes to the internal auditor for auditing and pays the full amount of revenues he collected.
However, his testimony on these changed when evidence was put before him.
Deputy Lead Counsel Sunkary Camara told him that the report showed that in April 2018, he collected D9,800.00(Nine Thousand Eight Hundred Dalasi) but submitted D9,100.00 (Nine Thousand One Hundred Dalasi) to the council’s cashier.
He was asked why this happened and he replied “It might be during calculation. No man is perfect it might be the calculator that failed me,” he said.
Counsel Camara disagreed with his answer and asked how can it be a miscalculation when the name and amount paid are written in the GTR. The witness maintained his answer to be a miscalculation.
Chairperson Jainaba Bah informed the witness that it is shown in the National Audit report that from 2018 to a part of 2019 he made forty transactions in which he underpaid the amount of revenues he collected and were written with a pen.
She went further telling the witness that auditors indicated in the report that there were alterations and suppression of records.
The witness replied that he was never shown this report and this matter was never brought to his attention.
“Are you saying you were unaware of these findings,” Counsel Camara asked the witness, and he replied he was unaware of it.
Lead Counsel put it to him that he was not being truthful to the Commission and that in the management’s response to this matter, they indicated that he was engaged and explained that the carbons in the GTR were omitted which is why he wrote with a pen.
Meanwhile, Mr. Joof admitted to being aware of this finding, noting that he now understood what the Commission was talking about.