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Aida had previously testified that she collected a total of 4,359,197 dalasis.
She explained that all the money collected was used to pay salaries, cash, vouchers and wage advances. She said she did not deposit anything in the bank because she was acting on the instructions of the financial director, Alagie Jeng.
When the financial director learned of this information, he confirmed it and said that Aida Jallow was a cashier, but she smiled and insisted that she was a tax collector.
At this point, Alagie Jeng came up with an alternative story, saying that Ida was appointed as a tax collector but was transferred to become a cashier. Ida stressed that she had no background in accounting or finance.
In response to questions, Ms. Zheng admitted that she had not received a transfer letter, confirming that she was only a tax collector.
The committee handed Ida’s cash book to Jeng. After a careful inspection, he said there was not a single bank deposit slip in the cash book. Jeng said collectors were not required to deposit money in banks because their collections would be used as petty cash.
Lead lawyer Patrick Gomez referred him to the testimony of former CEO Modou Jonga, who said the finance director and all managers had received a written instruction to deposit all funds raised in a bank. Zhan confirmed Jonga’s testimony and therefore ultimately called his previous statement – that there was no requirement for the recipients to deposit money in a bank – false.
Mr Zheng produced documents purportedly containing extracts from his electronic cash book for 2022. These documents have been tendered and admitted in evidence.
But the lead lawyer insisted that this did not “explain anything about the money given to him by Aida Jallow”.
Mr. Zheng agreed, but asked for time to trace all the financial documents in order to explain the expenditure.
Attorney Gomez said: “Everything she did was in accordance with your instructions.”
Mr Zheng also said he had not received receipts for the alleged expenses and could not explain why.
At this critical moment, the chief lawyer felt it necessary to refer him to the provisions of the Local Government Finance Manual on petty cash payments and petty cash systems. Zheng admitted that no rules or procedures were followed.
Zhan further testified that Aida Jallow was not a cashier, contrary to his previous evidence.
The lead attorney asked: “Why was she allowed to pay for these expenses herself?”
Zheng responded: “The decision was made by the CEO and the CFO… The decision was wrong.
Furthermore, Ida Jallow said that when she was the collector of the market, she used to give all the money collected to the market supervisor, Bunja Jadama. Alagie Jeng claimed that Bunja used to deposit all the money he received from the collectors into the account. While making this statement, the committee asked him to account for the money in his capacity as the financial director.
Mr Zheng will be there again to offer vouchers worth more than Dh4 million to Ida Jallow and other collectors.
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