By: Mama A. Touray
As the ongoing Local Government Commission of Inquiry commenced its probe into the Brikama Area Council (BAC), the commission on Thursday found discrepancies in the deposits made by Pa Sanjally Bojang, a revenue collector at BAC.
The commission made this discovery after reviewing the cash book and audit findings conducted by the National Audit Office, which revealed that in September 2022, Pa Sanjally Bojang collected D27,250 but only deposited D26,500.
In response to this, Sanjally claimed it was a miscalculation on his part. However, Deputy Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez informed him that it was not simply a miscalculation, as the amount collected exceeded what was deposited into the council’s accounts.
Sanjally admitted, “My collection was more than what I deposited, and I am responsible for it. I should pay the money.”
The audit findings also showed that in February 2022, Sanjally collected D98,500 but deposited only D98,000 into the council’s account.
Counsel Gomez challenged Sanjally’s earlier claim that his cash book was accurate since joining the council, stating, “It is incorrect to say your cash book is accurate,” to which Sanjally agreed, acknowledging a miscalculation.
Counsel Gomez highlighted several other discrepancies between the amounts collected and deposited, to which Sanjally attributed to calculation errors.
Deputy Lead Counsel Gomez then used Sanjally’s cash book to further cross-examine him, pointing out instances where Sanjally collected more money than he deposited, without proper explanation or receipts.
In one transaction, Sanjally collected D36,500 but only deposited D29,500. When questioned, Sanjally agreed that the balance should be paid by him.
In another instance, Sanjally collected D16,250 but did not deposit it, and there was no receipt. Despite being pressed for an explanation, Sanjally claimed not to understand.
Counsel Gomez reiterated that Sanjally had collected the money but failed to account for it properly, and he would have to rectify the discrepancies.
Finally, in a transaction from June 2022, Sanjally was issued a receipt for D40,000, despite collecting more than that amount. He was unable to provide an explanation for this discrepancy.
