Njie said his responsibility entails performing oversight functions over all markets within the KM. He said the only three markets outside his domain are the Bakoteh Fish Market, having its own manager, the Bakoteh Layout and Kanifing Estate Markets belonging to the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC).
On how he does his work, Njie said the market masters and mistresses would send him weekly reports about their collections, and he also visits the markets over the weekend. He stated that with the information from the weekly reports, he provides updates to the director of finance on Mondays. Njie said KMC has eight main markets and nine satellite markets.
He further testified that he does quarterly reconciliation with finance manager 1 of KMC. He testified that during the reconciliation exercises, there has never been an incident of variances.
“So, you mean what you have is always exactly the same as what the finance manager 1 has?” Lead Counsel Patrick Gomnez posed. However the witness promptly said he could recall two instances: “I can recall only two incidents in which there were variances in my records and the postings in the account.”
He said in one of the incidents, the amount was over D200,000. He testified that the records he obtained from the market heads were more than what was contained in the posting made in the account. He added that all market masters were summoned before a committee. Njie said in the end, it was discovered that the market masters and mistresses were right, and that the mistake was made by the finance unit.
He said the second incident involved D51,000. He explained that it was outstanding as there was a late deposit by the cashier, who did not deposit the funds on Friday but instead waited till Monday.
The witness asserted that reconciliation with finance manager 1 is optional. He claimed that his terms of reference does not include mandatory reconciliation. The lead counsel challenged him that reconciliation is not optional but mandatory in true spirit of accountability and in line with his terms of reference (TOR).
