Mendy was a member of the Accounts Committee and the Establishment and Appointment Committee of the KMC.
He said the Establishment and Appointment was chaired by Habib Ceesay and is one of the most active committees of the KMC.
However, he highlighted they faced challenges in discussing appointments of people, especially regarding the qualifications of applicants. He explained that at times the issue of “whom you know” come into play.
“Here is The Gambia and the people know one another. When you go deep in discussions about applicants, you tend to see people's sides, and you will know who they wish to have the job,” he testified.
Ex-councillor Mendy noted that "most of the problems come from the mayor and he was the chairperson".
Witness Mendy said the problem of the KMC lies in the management, addiing that the sub-committee responsible for appointment was weak and he had tried his way to push for the committee to move on but his efforts were not successful.
On assigning his son to join the trucks for waste collection, Peter said he used to assign his son Stanley Mendy to accompany the “Mbalit” Trucks.
He claimed his son used to guide the trucks on places to go for waste collection, adding that his son was doing that for him without pay.
He explained that four people were hired to work in the “Mbalit” Project for waste collection. He said his son was helping because the four hired collectors wanted to collect from the industrial areas, where they have more commission than the communities.
“I attached my son there because he is not too well to be there for me to ensure that the trucks reach all the places to collect waste. My son was just a pointer and he was not paid for that,” he said.
He said his son was not handling cash. Instead, he was given the books, and they were said to be missing.
Mendy said there was a day he was summoned at the KMC by Mayor Talib Bensouda and his deputy regarding missing ticket books for the waste collection.
He was told that his son was part of the team going around to do the collection. He said he asked them to calculate what was missing and he was prepared to make the full payment. Mendy claimed the amount was around D60,000 as the total sum and he repaid it through deductions made from his monthly allowances.
After paying, he said told them that the KMC should now take full control of the truck and his son won’t serve as a pointer anymore.
Counsel Sunkary Camara expanded her line of questioning regarding the missing funds and his son's involvement.
Peter said his son was accompanying the trucks to do daily collection of waste and only served as a pointer.
“He was not involved in revenue collection. He was there to serve as a pointer and was not paid,” Mendy maintained.
He testified that his ward is divided into five zones. He explained that when the trucks were distributed to the wards, the councillors were tasked to identify the people to work in those trucks.
He said the councillors used to compete as to who brings more revenue for the council. He added that he did not know the people selected to work in the truck were assigned to his ward.
Peter claimed the workers do not know the five zones and his son used to accompany them to serve as a pointer because he knows the area very well.
“He was there to make sure that he was a pointer and ensure that the truck reach the areas to collect rubbish,” he said.
He said he was informed about missing D60,000 and he, as the councillor, paid it. He provided the letter sent to him by Bakary Singhateh, the manager of the “Mbalit” Project. It was tendered and admitted in evidebce.
The letter indicated a D51,000 shortage instead of D60,000. Mendy said what he wanted to write in his written statement was about D60,000 as he had forgotten.
“The whole money was deducted from my allowance and it reflected in my payslip,” he said.
The Commission requested him to provide his pay slips. Peter said after paying the missing sum, he also returned the management of the trucks back to the council to avoid such a situation. He added that his son served for only one month.
