By Mama A. Touray
The accounts clerk at the Brikama Area Council, Omar Bah, has admitted to the ongoing Local Government Commission of Inquiry that he unlawfully withdrew D29.9 million from the council’s accounts.
The commission found out that Omar had unlawfully withdrawn D29.9 million, a fact he admitted to, stating the council does not adhere to the provisions of the financial manual.
Saidykhan further admitted a violation of the law in terms of payments and documentation. “We were not following the due process of law in terms of preparing payment vouchers and making payments,” he said.
He also stated that upon making withdrawals from the bank, he would receive payment vouchers to complete transactions and subsequently return those vouchers.
“Some of the withdrawals were given to some staff to deposit in other banks. I wouldn’t know whether they deposited or not,” he told the commission.
Omar was found to have withdrawn D5,725,875 from the council’s Trust Bank account between January 2021 and January 2023.
Reacting to this, he stated: “We flouted the provisions of the Financial Manual for Local Government Councils.”
The Financial Manual makes provision for checks and balances and Omar admitted to the commission that payments were made in his name, contrary to the dictates of the Financial Manual.
Just like the council’s Trust Bank account, Omar was again found to have withdrawn D24.9 million from the council’s Eco Bank account between 2018 and 2023.
“In 2018, you withdrew over D1 Million, in 2019 over D3.2 million, in 2020 over D2.9 million, in 2021 over D5.6, in 2022 over D9.3 and in 2023 over D2.5 million,” the commission’s report detailed.
Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez asserted that all the withdrawals were unlawful, an admission the witness reiterated, acknowledging they breached the Financial Manual’s rules. He complied with the instructions and, following the withdrawals, delivered the cash to Finance Director Alagie Jeng.
In 2018, he was also found to have withdrawn D20,000 from another council account. In 2020, the withdrawal was D1.5 million. In 2021, it exceeded D1.1 million. In 2022, the amount was over D1.15 million, and in 2023, it was over D196,000, totalling D4,061,849.
Gomez told him that all these were unlawful withdrawals as the transactions did not have supporting documents.
Furthermore, Omar was found to have withdrawn D1.4 million from the council’s Vista Bank account in 2021, over D7.5 million, and D1.1 million in 2023, which totalled over D10.2 million.
The Commission noted that from the 20th to the 26th of January 2023, Omar withdrew over D1.1 million. When asked to state the purpose of the withdrawal he said: “They were for payment of council expenses and salaries, and I never knew it was unlawful”.
Gomez told him: “You are sitting here and telling us that you do not have documents to support the withdrawals. It is very sad and pathetic. It is very sad.” To which, Omar responded “Yes”.
The accounts cashier, Saidykhan, testified that the deposits into the CEO’s account represented per diems for conferences attended, noting that the cheques were made out in his name. Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez asked for the details and justifications of these deposits, to which Omar responded by requesting time to provide them.
