Councillor Karamo Ceesay, who doubles as the head of the Finance Committee of the Council, said there were about 3 to 4 auction sales conducted by the Kanifing Municipal Council, adding the reports might be with the deputy director of services. He was asked to provide them to the Commission another day.
He was asked about the 29 September 2022 auction sales by KMC, where the auctioneer was Mustapha Jobe.
The Audit Department of the KMC made findings about missing parts, including the gearbox and engine of a truck. Ceesay said there were 5 trucks and they were all sold at D265,000 each. He claimed there was an evaluation and a report was generated. He was asked to provide the evaluation report.
The auditors noted that 21 out of the 24 beams were missing. “We heard about the missing beams. We heard it through a rumour,” Ceesay testified.
He testified that his committee (Finance Committee) was not presented with a report by the internal auditors. He blamed the auditors for not presenting the audit report to his committee for redress.
Lead Counsel Gomez dismissed Ceesay’s claim that the audit report was not presented to his committee. Ceesay agreed and claimed that the audit reports were not placed before the Council for discussion.
“It is unacceptable to have several internal audit reports and no action is taken about them,” Counsel Gomez said.
“Yes, when the reports are out, action should be taken. It is in our own interest,” Ceesay expressed.
“The report was never submitted to us and the CEO never informed us about it,” he said.
The witness said the KMC was faced with distractions and he was also faced with distractions, including his detention by police and a court case. He added that they could not act on the audit reports, but argued it was not a deliberate lapse on the side of the Council.
“We should have acted on the internal audit reports. We haven’t acted on them,” he said.
Councillor Ceesay was handed a letter sent to the Ministry of Local Government, seeking the replacement of the auditor for lack of capacity as he does not (allegedly) prepare audit reports. Ceesay expressed surprise seeing the audit reports prepared by the said internal auditor, whom he had referred to as incompetent. Ceesay claimed the internal auditor informed them in one of the general council meetings that he could not do his work as required.
