He said he did monthly reconciliations of the accounts. He was requested to bring all monthly reconciliations he did regarding the account, but he said he had none, adding that the information was with the accountant of the “Mbalit” Project.
Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez disputed this claim, saying the accountant was under his direct control and supervision, and he had access to all the accounts.
Counsel Gomez applied to the Commission to make an order directing Dr Keita to bring all the books of account in relation to the Mbalit Project during his time as the director of finance. The application was granted, and he was asked to bring the documents on or before 16 October 2024. He was further asked to provide the details of payments made to Quantum/Espace Motors during his time.
On how they were paying for the Mbalit Project vehicles to Espace Motors, he said they were paying from the monies collected from the Mbalit collection and withdrawals from the KMC main account.
“The Mbalit Project cannot on its own pay for the trucks because the revenue generated was too small,” he explained.
He stated that he initiated meetings with Espace Motors for the payment structure to be discussed, but the vehicle suppliers did not come. He added that the meeting failed to hold twice. He mentioned that when the second meeting failed, the mayor asked him to leave it as it was.
Lead Counsel Gomez told Keita that his statement about the mayor was misleading. He referred the witness to his written statement, in which he stated: “What I found at the Council was the Mbalit loan and KMC was paying it at Agib Bank based on the agreement of the Mbalit Project. It was a bit complicated. I said to myself that we need to involve one Jim Gaye from Espace Motors to discuss, but he told me to leave it as it was.”
He added: “When I went through the agreement, the mode of servicing of the Mbalit Project was so complicated, and I never wanted them to take advantage of the Council. The Mbalit Project could be best described as a ‘Special Agreement’ between Council and Agib [Bank], because the garbage trucks were used as collateral. I understand that the trucks were overpriced from the information I heard from CEO Sainabou Martin-Sonko at the time.”
He said it was not a conventional type of loan. Instead, it was a pre-arrangement made. He added that the Mbalit Project is a complicated project.
