By Mama A. Touray
Lamin Saidy, in his second appearance before the ongoing Local Government Commission of Inquiry, testified on the D8000 revenue shortage flagged in the council’s 2020 internal audit report.
According to page 32 of the 2020 Internal Audit Report, the auditors flagged that Lamin Saidy has a cash shortage of D3000 and D5000.
Reacting to the internal audit report’s assertion, Saidy said: “I can agree with this, but I was not called or talked about the findings”.
The report further flagged that Lamin Saidy had not posted his collections in the cash book to which he responded: “I have never been in their office. I have never been audited based on my knowledge during this time”.
Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez asked Saidy why his entries in the cash book stopped in January 2022, omitting the other months and without records for 2023.
When Counsel Gomez questioned whether his entries for the following months were absent, Saidy replied: “I have all the receipts with me. I did not record my collections. The revenue collection devices were introduced, and we were promised that they would bring forms for us to record our collections. The forms were never brought”.
Lead Counsel Gomez informed Saidy that the machines were accounted for in the cash book he supplied, which recorded collections from 2021 through February 2022.
This contradicted Saidy’s testimony that he wasn’t recording because he was operating the machine and awaiting the forms. He then promptly revised his statement, saying, “We were asked to stop recording.”
Counsel Gomez referred the witness to the cash book he produced to account for the collections. He claimed that he had deposited in the Vista Bank and GT Bank.
He was referred to the Finance Unit of the Commission to do reconciliation. He will reappear before the Commission when the process is done for further hearing.
