Jatta is responsible for monitoring and supervising all the revenue collectors under License Unit. He ascended from the position of a revenue collector to the position of license manager.
His statement, dated 2 May 2024; temporal appointment letter, dated 8 September 1996; confirmation letter, dated 31 May 2000 were all tendered and admitted in evidence.
The witness admitted that he purchased a motorcycle from the council’s funds. “It was through instruction of the director of finance. I was posted in Kombo East. I lodged a complaint to the director of finance and the CEO. I personally bought it based on the instruction of the director of finance. I bought the bike in Brikama. The director of finance was Alagie Jeng,” he testified.
“Where did you get the money to buy the motor bike?” Counsel Sunkary Camara inquired.
“From the petty cash I was handling,” Jatta responded.
“You were not supposed to buy a motor bike,” the counsel told him.
Witness Jatta agreed but attempted to justify such a move, saying it was bought for the council and not personally for himself. However, Counsel S. Camara informed him that he was not supposed to be the one to buy it. This he affirmed.
Proceedings progressed. Jatta probed about D5,000 that was unaccounted for. He admitted he suppressed it but told the Commission that he had refunded it.
Moreover, the acting license manager disclosed that in 2018 and 2019, he was a field worker, but he is currently working in the office. He produced 2 cash books covering 2017 to 2020 and 2020 to 2023 respectively
“Why are there no deposit slips in your cash books?” Counsel S. Camara quizzed. Mr Jatta said he had deposit slips with him, and he provided a booklet containing some deposit slips.
Again, he was asked about his absenteeism from the weekly auditing at the internal audit unit. The witness claimed that he had never missed the weekly auditing in the council.
Counsel S. Camara informed Jatta that from the 7th to 13th July 2022, he collected D12,500 without going for auditing and without a trace of the deposit in the accounts of the council. Jatta showed the recordings from his cash book and provided a receipt he obtained dated 14th July.
He said he deposited the money in 3 banks - Eco Bank, GT Bank and Trust Bank. He was handed the statements of the accounts of BAC from the three 3 banks. After checking from the three 3 account statements, he affirmed the deposit was not traced.
“Since it is not in the account, it means I deposited the money with the cashier,” he said at last.
Counsel S. Camara handed him the lodgement roll from BAC to examine. The witness admitted that he did not sign the lodgement log and was listed as absent.
“You did not pay the money in the accounts and did not give the money to the cashier,” Counsel Camara put to him.
The acting license manager insisted that if the money was not deposited, then that meant he had given it to the cashier.
“That is not true,” the counsel articulated. “You did not sign the lodgement log, and you have been absent. You did not deposit the money in the bank, and you did not pay to the cashier. Tell us what you did with the money.
In spite of these, Jatta repeated the same claims that it must have been given to the cashier. Counsel Camara provided Jatta another lodgement log from BAC showing that he had signed the log and made a deposit in another transaction.
Witness Jatta was asked about the D79,000 collection he made between 3 and 9 March 2022. He claimed to have deposited the sum in the Eco Bank account. He was given the Eco Bank statement to tell the Commission how much he deposited. After crosschecking, he said he deposited D73,000. He also testified that he had repaid the suppressed amount into the council’s account after he was informed about it.
“There must be a mistake from the bank and not from me,” he asserted.
“No, it is you,” Counsel S. Camara said.
Furthermore, Mr Jatta provided his own cash book based on his request. The Commission noted that the witness paid D73,000 on 3 March. The period queried by the auditors was from 3 to 9 March for an amount of D79,000.
Jatta did his own calculations and said the total collections he made between 3 and 9 March 2022 was D109,000. He further claimed that he made the deposit of D73,000 on 10 March 2022. He blamed the bank.
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