Colley said at the time of assuming office, there was 5 staff in the Internal Audit Unit, adding that the Audit Unit was without a director for at least 2 years.
He also disclosed that there was a capacity gap at the Internal Audit Unit in terms of how audits should be carried out.
The witness said he did a procurement audit; looking at the procurement activities, contracts awarded, and the evaluation criteria used.
“There was no independent evaluation committee,” he said.
He said he advised the KMC to establish an independent evaluation committee because some of the policymakers in KMC do management work.
“There is always that conflict of interest,” the witness said.
He agreed with Lead Counsel Gomez's statement that without an independent evaluation committee, the contracts may be susceptible to fraud, nepotism, and favouritism, among other wrongs.
Colley mentioned that the Council payroll for meetings does not follow due procedure. He stated that the council makes payment immediately after the meeting without subjecting the payment to vetting.
“There was no adequate time for verification. It is open to fraud,” the witness said.
Witness Colley said the time needed for verification would allow for vetting who was present through the attendance list and also for it to pass through the Internal Audit Unit for pre-payment auditing.
He was asked whether vouchers and other necessary documents pass through his office before payments are made. He responded that some of them come to him, but others do not. He added that this means the same thing applied in the past.
Inquiry probes Old jeshwang market mistress
Meanwhile, the Local Government Commission Tuesday questioned the market mistress of Old Jeshwang over a range of issues.
Awa Faye, in addition to Old Jeshwang Market, is also responsible for Jimpex and Westfield as a market mistress. She testified that since 2018, she has been using cash books. She said her 2018 and 2019 cash books were with the Internal Audit Department, adding that the 2022 cash book was with the investigators of the Commission. She provided two cashbooks for 2020, two for 2021 and two for 2023.
As a market mistress, she said she collects ticket books from the finance unit and distributes them among her six collectors while keeping the records in her quire book. She provided two books dubbed the canteen register. She testified she was responsible for collecting from the canteens while the collectors do the daily collection from the vendors, adding there are 40 canteens and each pays D300.
She said between 2018 and 2020, she used to deposit all her collections in the Trust Bank account of KMC. However, after that period she began taking the cash to the main office to pay to the cashier and be issued a receipt before proceeding to audit for reconciliation.
The Commission noted that the internal auditors of KMC and the external auditors from the National Audit Office (NAO) queried that some of the GTRs (receipts), amounting to D189,650 were not presented for auditing by various collectors.
The witness alone did not present her receipts amounting to D49,200. She reacted that she was not informed about it and only came to know about it when she appeared before the investigators of the Commission.
She testified that the audit finding was accurate. The auditors stated that the collectors collected the monies and recorded them in their books but did not present the receipts for auditing.
The witness claimed that the information was contained in her cash books and the receipts she obtained from the cashiers of the KMC were attached. She further noted that the auditors had audited her cash books and she was cleared.
She did not respond to the question why the receipts were not provided to the auditors. She relied on the receipt she acquired from the cashiers to say the money was submitted to the Council and she was audited.
