Recent testimonies have revealed inconsistencies in financial transactions, raising concerns about the council’s accounting practices.
Nyang, who has been employed at BCC since April 12, 2010, testified about her role in handling cash collections. In 2018, she was redeployed to the Cash Office in Banjul as a paying and receiving cashier, responsible for receiving payments from collectors, vendors, and residents making direct payments to the council.
During her testimony, Nyang stated that all collected funds were banked. However, complications arose due to the council operating two different bank accounts. She mentioned that she would seek guidance from Cham, who was acting at the time, regarding where to deposit certain amounts.
When questioned by lead counsel Patrick Gomez about whether she was ever asked to facilitate other payments, Nyang denied any requests, except in cases of pre-financing payments, after which a cheque was issued for refund.
She was confronted about a D47,000 suppression in 2021, money collected by Kaddijatou Jambang. She explained that in 2021, an annual task force was set up for financial recovery. Nyang stated that collectors were involved, but sometimes she had already left work before they arrived. As a result, she did not receive the said money and was unsure whether the collectors took the money home or paid it to Momodou Camara, the Director of Finance.
However, she was later called to a meeting where the Mayoress asked if she had received money from collectors. She explained she did not receive the cash from the collector .
Nyang stated that she received funds from Mr Camara, who refunded the D47,000 collected by Kaddijatou Jambang.
Further inquiries were made about the source of Camara’s funds, but Nyang said she was unaware. When asked whether collectors paid directly to him, she responded that she did not know but considered it a possibility.
Nyang was also questioned about another cash amount of D135,000, which auditors flagged as revenue collected by Khadijatou Jambang. She confirmed that Jambang had issued a cheque for D100,000 and had handed her the cash, for which she issued a receipt. Later, Jambang returned with an additional D35,000 in cash, claiming she now had a total of D135,000.
To avoid canceling the previous receipt, Nyang said she issued a new receipt for D35,000. However, Jambang later left, stating she was going to collect a book, but never returned.
Auditors later inquired about Jambang’s receipts. Upon checking the General Treasury Receipt (GTR) records, they found documentation of the transactions.
The 2021 audit report revealed a missing surplus of D217,488.06. Nyang attributed this to an accounting surplus. Additionally, the council was found to have no cash book for 2021 and instead relied on daily roll records.
Further investigations into a collection made on September 27, 2022, for Fatou Joof, amounting to D22,400, revealed that the funds were not paid to her. When confronted with the audit report, Nyang denied responsibility, stating that the money was paid to another official, Oumie.
While auditors noted discrepancies in missing funds, Nyang argued that proper documentation existed but was not reflected in the reports. She stated that she relied on GTR records to verify transactions and insisted that receipts were issued accordingly.
