By: Mama A. Touray
The Brikama Area Council Cashier, Amadou Touray, admitted before the ongoing local government commission of inquiry that he unlawfully withdrew D100 million of council funds without following due processes.
Touray made this admission when Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez questioned him about his withdrawals from the respective accounts of the council. Lead Counsel Gomez told him, “The withdrawals were unlawful” and that there were no supporting documents for the withdrawals, to which he admitted, “Yes, Counsel, the withdrawals were all unlawful.”
Amadou further admitted that he is responsible for the unlawful withdrawal. When asked by Counsel Gomez, “You are responsible,” he replied, “Yes, Counsel.”
For the Supersonics Microfinance Account, the witness on 7th February 2024 withdrew D400,000. When questioned about what the money was meant for, he said, “I don’t think I will be able to remember that because I was only issued a cheque to make the withdrawal.”
Gomez put it to him, “If you cannot account for this, it suggests that payment was made to you for your own benefit,” which he admitted. On 7th June 2021, he withdrew D213,000; on 12th February 2022, he withdrew D200,000 and further withdrew D500,000 from the Supersonics account of the Brikama Area Council on the same day. The witness was asked to account for each of those withdrawals.
Reacting to this, Touray said, “What I can recall is that it will be either for council expenses or payment or salaries.”
For the council’s Eco Bank account, the witness in 2019 withdrew D10,000; in 2020, he withdrew over D12.6 million; in 2021, he withdrew over D14.1 million; in 2022, he withdrew over D16.7 million; and in 2023, he withdrew over D15.5 million. He told the commission that none of those withdrawals followed due process. He further testified that the withdrawals were unlawful.
For the Vista Bank account of the Brikama Area Council, the witness withdrew over D320,000 in 2020, over D14.4 million in 2021, over D27.1 million in 2022, and over D2.16 million in 2023. He admitted that none of those withdrawals followed due process and that the withdrawals were unlawful.
For the GTBank account of the Brikama Area Council, the witness withdrew D673,968.45 in 2020; over D3.3 million in 2021; over D9.6 million in 2022; and over D1.4 million in 2023.
For the Trust Bank account of the Brikama Area Council, the witness in 2021 withdrew over D12.8 million, and in 2022, he withdrew over D14 million.
At this point, the witness was referred to the Financial Manual on salary payments and other council expenses. The manual demands that the financial officers and staff of the finance unit must ensure adequate care is taken when making expenses by adhering to the processes laid down, especially for salary payments and other council expenditures. The manual indicates procedures to be taken at each stage, including how to make withdrawals and payments.
