Lamin Dampha, who joined the Kerewan Area Council in 2014, testified under oath, with several documents, including his appointment and redeployment letters, being admitted into evidence. His redeployment from the Rent Tribunal to the position of Senior Revenue Collector was confirmed to have taken place in November 2014.
During questioning, counsel Sunkary Camara raised concerns about withdrawal made by the witness from different banks, which included GTBank D285,850, Trust Bank D1,281,050, and Ecobank 5,609,927.
He stated that these withdrawals were made through cheques issued in his name by the chief executive officer, Seedy K. Touray, and brought to him by some officials, who then collected the cash on behalf of the CEO.
However, Dampha claimed that he had little knowledge of how the funds were used, as his role was limited to handling the transactions as instructed.
Counsel Camara confronted Dampha with testimony from another witness, Omar Trawally, who revealed that he withdrew GMD48,000 from Trust Bank under his instructions.
Dampha admitted and explained that the money was withdrawn under the CEO’s orders and later deposited it into the CEO’s personal account as instructed. Dampha acknowledged that similar transactions may have taken place but claimed he could not recall specific details.
When asked whether he knew the funds deposited into the CEO’s account did not belong to him, he admitted he was aware but followed instructions without question.
The inquiry also uncovered financial mismanagement in Revenue Collection and Cash Handling.
During questioning, Dampha admitted to working with six market vendors. However, when asked whether they were issued Government Treasury Receipts (GTRs), he stated that tickets were only issued based on availability from the council.
The commission requested the cash book from 2016-2018, which was maintained by the witness and subsequently admitted into evidence. When asked about revenue collection from six designated collectors, Dampha revealed that funds were not always deposited into the bank as expected.
Instead, he cited operational expenses, such as vehicle maintenance for waste collection as reasons for non-banking of collected funds as instructed by the CEO and finance director.
He explained that they would often write claims to indicate amounts used for such maintenance.
Dampha confirmed that revenue collection and deposit records existed. However, he could not provide clear details on whether financial reconciliations were regularly conducted at the council level.
Further scrutiny arose over the council’s handling of trade licences for GSM companies in Kerewan. Dampha acknowledged that between 2020 and 2021, collectors did not issue manual receipts to these companies, and he never personally witnessed the issuance of demand notes for trade licence fees.
When asked whether he knew the expected payments from GSM companies, he stated that he had no direct dealings with them and had never accessed their financial records.
