[ad_1]
The witness is a resident of Brikama. He is a market supervisor of the Brikama District Council and is stationed at the Brikama market. He testified that he started working for the Council in 1996 as a collector in charge of parking lots.
He said that he had been working as the market supervisor at Brikama market since 2014 – initially as an agent. The witness’ written statement was filed and admitted in evidence on October 27, 2023. The witness said that he had never used a cash book. When asked what type of records he kept as a market supervisor, the witness replied that he was not a collector. Instead, he supervised the market collectors at Brikama. He had 25 collectors under him.
As to the duties of the market supervisor, he said that he was responsible for supervising the market collectors and keeping records of the collectors present and absent. The witness testified that he used to collect cash from the market collectors. He added that he found that the system was maintained there. He said that the system was that the collectors deposited the three-day collection (i.e. Monday to Thursday) and the four-day collection (i.e. Thursday to Sunday) with the market manager for safekeeping. He testified that the three-day collection was deposited on Thursday and the four-day collection was deposited on Monday.
He explained that the market manager would write the amount received from the payee on a piece of paper and attach the paper to the cash received. The witness who was the head of the market was responsible for taking the cash to the bank. He added that in the absence of the market manager, he would receive the cash from the payee and deposit the cash in the bank. He explained that the bank deposits were made in the name of the payee and the receipt was given to the payee who took it to the council for audit and receipt.
The witness said the former chief executive, Modou Jonga, stopped the system. They were no longer allowed to carry the cash with them for days. He added that the recipients were able to deposit the cash themselves without the supervision of the market chief.
The witness said that there was a canteen register in the market where the names of the persons operating canteens in the market, the amount payable and other relevant details were recorded. He added that the same was true in the markets of Ramin and Busumbala. He testified that he used to keep a CRBR book where the names of the tax collectors who issued the receipt books and other information related to the receipts were recorded.
The witness said the money was requested by the financial director, Alagie Jeng. He added that Alagie Jeng admitted to receiving the money from him. The witness explained that he gave the money to Alagie Jeng because he was his boss. He testified that he did not know at the time that his actions were wrong. He said he came to know this after following the proceedings of the committee.
The witness said that after collecting the money, the market collector would give him the money to deposit in the bank. He added that when Alagie Jeng asked for cash, he would give him the amount as requested and deposit the balance in the bank. He explained that the collectors who were deprived of the money would go to the parliament and ask for the receipt from the chief cashier.
The witness was asked about unrecorded funds amounting to Dh63,000 and Dh70,000 in the 2020 internal audit inquiry. The witness said this was during the period when he used to receive and keep the daily collections from the collector. He added that he sometimes received instructions from the Brikama District Council’s Finance Director, Alagie Jeng, to give him funds from the collections to finance council events such as funerals and naming or wedding ceremonies involving council staff. The witness said he did not keep records of the money he gave to the Finance Director.
He testified that Alagie Jeng admitted to accepting the cash from him. He added that at the time he did not know that it was wrong to hand over the cash to the financial director.
[ad_2]
Source link
