By: Arret Jatta
Erstwhile M’ballit Project manager (2) Kemo Fatty,who served in the position for 100 days, on Tuesday told the Local Government Commission of Inquiry (LGCI) that he reported a whole lot offraud cases but that nothing was done about them, leading to his resignation.
“I have been reporting cases of fraud and nothing has been done about them,” he testified.
He added that he was appointed in KMC on 10 March 2020, but resigned after just serving100 days.
The witness further testified that he used to work at the Bakoteh dumpsite as a volunteer since the time of the late ex-mayor Yankuba Colley, adding that he was volunteering at the landfill until the time of Mayor Talib Bensouda.
“I have been working at the Bakoteh dumpsite since the time of mayor Yankuba Colley for about three years but I was just volunteering because I lived at the SOS Children’s Village my whole life. So, it was just close. I was also registering scavengers. There was a time many people came to visit. Sometimes, we even did projects at the site. So, after the mayoral election, we had a new mayor and I was summoned to the environment and sanitation committee because lord mayor Talib Bensouda has met me on site during my volunteering days and I took him through the site to explain to him what are some of the things and so on,” he explained.
The witness stated that he was brought on the environment and sanitation committee thanks to his voluntary work at the Bakoteh dumpsite.
“I was serving there to provide guidance and expertise as how to best manage the dumpsite. So later on, I was informed that there was a post available for dumpsite manager and I applied and was called for an interview and was later appointed,” he explained.
Fatty stated that the first problem he encountered was with the security personnel at the dumpsite.
“They sometimes allow some people to pass without making payments. The procedure is that before any vehicle, tricycle or donkey cart is allowed into the dumpsite, the person has to make payment and obtain a receipt. I instructed that no one should be allowed into the dumpsite without obtaining a receipt but during my routine checks, I came to realise that some were allowed to enter without making any payments,” he adduced.
“I was been undermined from the top,” he added.
The witness also mentioned that another problem he detected was that his superiors from KMC used to come to the dumpsite and take the daily collections from the revenue collectors without allowing them to make the payment to the cashier at the council.
“They used to come to the dumpsite and say, ‘Kemo, you are doing well.’ Then, they will collect the daily collections and take it without waiting for it to be paid to the cashier,” he said, adding that he made the entire KMC, including the senior management and the mayor, aware of what had happened and was promised that there would be an investigation, but later everyone turned against him.
“I consistently raised the concern about the sales discrepancies. Unfortunately, my concerns were consistently downplayed,” he said.
He claimed that D270,000 from the sales was also not accounted for.
“This amount was missing and it got to the knowledge of the management. All of them knew about it,” he further claimed