By Mama A. Touray
The Finance Director of Brikama Area Council, Alagie Jeng, admitted before the ongoing Local Government Commission of Inquiry that he received money from Mama Kinteh, a revenue collector at the council.
It could be recalled that Mama Kinteh testified before the Commission that the BAC Director of Finance, Alagie Jeng, instructed her to bring collections to the council instead of depositing them into the council’s account. Jeng admitted this when he was asked whether he received money from Mama Kinteh. Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez told him, “You knew that was wrong,” to which he admitted, “Yes, I know.”
When asked why he did that, he responded, “I did that because we have to make payments.” He informed the commission that the Chief Executive Officer was aware of this and that sometimes the Principal Auditor used to be involved.
Alagie Jeng was shown the audit report against him, Mama Kinteh, and Yankuba Kujabi, the Market Master, and he testified that he had not seen the audit report in the past, saying, “I was not aware of its existence.”
Lead Counsel Gomez told him, “The idea of knowing or not knowing the audit report is not something that can help in this situation. You are here to account for the money you collected from Mama Kinteh.” Jeng responded, “I cannot recall taking all this money from Mama. I cannot remember receiving all this money from her. I can remember calling her when we wanted to make payments.”
Alagie Jeng further claimed that he has payment vouchers that he can provide to account for the amount received from Mama Kinteh. The Commission requested the vouchers, and Jeng promised to bring them. The amount in question is D262,000.
He told the commission that he refunded D75,000 and that it was deposited in the BAC’s AGIB Bank account, but the audit did not capture the transaction. He could not state the period the money was refunded and was given the AGIB Bank statement of the BAC to show the Commission, but he was unable to show it.
Mama Kinteh was asked about Jeng’s claim, and she testified that she went to Jeng to request a receipt for the money (D75,000). “Instead of giving me a receipt, he gave me D75,000 and asked me to deposit it in the account in 2023,” she said.
When asked where he got the money to refund Mama, he responded, “It was from the cash withdrawals,” and Counsel Gomez told him, “The money taken from her was used unlawfully,” which he admitted. “Yes, I have committed an unlawful act, but I did not use the money unlawfully. The act was wrong, but the spending was correct,” Alagie Jeng said.
Gomez asked, “Do you agree that taking from the revenue collectors and spending it on council activities was wrong?” and he admitted, “Yes.”
