The Commission discovered several projects the council listed in its budget. Thus, Mr Touray was asked if any of the projects were part of the council’s procurement plan, but he said he did not know.
However, he was quick to state that the Basse Area Council did not have the funds to implement the projects.
“Was there a real expectation by the time you came up with these projects that you will fund them?” Lead Counsel Yakarr Cox asked.
“Frankly, we cannot fund all these projects,” the witness said.
At this point, Chairperson Jainaba Bah interjected to raise the fact that the budgets of the Basse Area Council were not based on realistic figures. “You just assumed and drafted a document,” she said.
The witness agreed, saying the chairperson of the Commission was “right”.
Also, the Inquiry Commission established that the cost of the implementation of projects in 2023 amounted to 33.5 million dalasis
Touray indicated that some of the projects in the 2023 budget had also been included in the previous years’ budgets.
He admitted that some of the projects were included in the budget when, in actual sense, there was already a decision that those wards wouldn’t get projects.
“Why give the people expectation that they will have something when you know they won’t get anything?” Lead Counsel Yakarr Cox asked.
“It’s not right,” Mr Touray reacted.
“These are the same people you collect revenue from. If you were in their shoes, would you have paid tax when you don’t know where, what you pay goes to?” Counsel Cox asked.
“It will be difficult to get anything from me,” he responded.
The lead counsel, at one point, addressed the witness, saying: “Mr Touray, if you had followed the rules you would have got a good budget and now you are waiting for a new system when you don’t know how it works,”
She also told the witness that he did not do what he was supposed to do. That, he acknowledged with an affirmation.
“So, how do you expect the Council to function with a new system when you cannot comply with the simpler system? If you cannot do it now why do you need to do it then?” Lead Counsel Yakarr Cox asked.
“It is going to be difficult,” Mr Touray said.
“You will agree that it is the people that are the problem and not the system,” Lead Counsel Yakar Cox said.
Mr Touray also agreed.
