By: Mama A. Touray
The Brikama Area Council’s revenue collector for Madiana, Youna, and Brufut Heights, Alieu Sonko, testified on Tuesday about his 2020 and 2021 cash books. He admitted to giving collected council funds to the Finance director.
Alieu was given his 2020 cash book to check and show the commission the entries for that period. When asked why he altered the months and dates in his cash book for February and April 2020 and to also explain the whereabouts of the deposit slip and GTRs for these entries, he denied tampering with the records. “No, I did not change the months and dates,” he claimed.
After being given back his cash book to verify, Sonko admitted that he had changed the months in the cash book to bring forward the amounts and was quick to acknowledge that what he did was a mistake. Counsel Gomez pointed out that these changes were fraudulent, especially since Sonko had been audited internally.
Sonko agreed with Gomez, admitting that the changes were not related to audit queries. When questioned about why he changed the months, he explained that it was to capture the balance he brought forward. However, Gomez challenged this idea, stating that bringing forward entries made no sense.
Sonko claimed to have bank deposits and provided some slips but said others were with the Director of Finance. He was instructed on what to do before those copies would be admitted.
Further questioning revealed faults in Sonko’s cash book recordings, to which he admitted. He couldn’t explain many of the discrepancies or provide deposit slips or receipts to support his claims.
Sonko went through BAC bank statements but couldn’t find deposits he claimed to have made. He then changed his statement, saying the money was with the Director of Finance, which contradicted his earlier testimony.
Chairperson Jainaba Bah discovered that Sonko had removed pages from his 2021 cash book. Sonko admitted to this but claimed it was only one page.
Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez informed Sonko that the Commission had analyzed his cash book for 2020 and found discrepancies where what he collected did not reflect in the bank.
