"Where did you derive authority to give council loan?" Chairperson Jainaba Bah asked.
The witness, in reaction to the question by the chairperson, said he did it “in good faith” and used his “discretion”.
"That was not the question,” Chairperson Bah interjected. “Did the financial manual allow you to give the Council loan?"
Mr Suso answered in the negative.
The witness was asked these questions premised on the fact that he claimed that he gave loans to the Basse Area Council.
Per evidence before the Commission, auditors from the Internal Audit Directorate discovered that D51 million was withdrawn from the Basse Area Council accounts between January 2020 and October 2022 by members of the finance unit, which Mr Suso heads, without following due process.
In some instances, he admitted to taking money from the council. However, he claimed they were monies he took to refund the transactions he had pre-financed with his own money.
Currently, the ex-CEO Ousman Touray at the Basse Area Council is appearing before the Commission to testify on issues, mostly shady ones, and the role he played in some of them.
During his testimony throughout last week, Mr Touray admitted failure and wrongdoings in some instances, while also rejecting most of the claims that Lamin Suso had made before the Commission.
