Pa Sait Ceesay acknowledged that the internal auditor, responsible for validating financial transactions, attended lectures at the Management Development Institute and was available only twice a week. "He was doing his job,” he said.
The turning point came when Ceesay was presented with a bundle of vouchers for scrutiny. After a careful examination, he admitted that all payments made in 2019 bypassed the internal audit unit, saying: “These payments we made were invalid. They did not pass through the internal audit unit.”
Chairperson Jainaba Bah referred Ceesay to the Financial and Accounting Manual for councils, which emphasises the requirement for a pre-auditing exercise by the internal audit unit before transactions.
Ceesay acknowledged that the council's practices were not aligned with the dictates of the law, taking full responsibility for the decision to bypass internal audit procedures.
Accordingly the inquiry also uncovered that the finance director failed to prepare a balance sheet to indicate the financial status of the council. The former CEO attributed this lapse to a capacity gap and admitted fault, saying that he should have demanded and ensured that it was prepared as the chief accounting officer of the council.
Furthermore, auditors highlighted discrepancies between the amounts recorded in ledgers and those in the cash book. Ceesay bluntly admitted, "There was no proper accounting system at the council."
These revelations have raised serious questions about the financial management practices at Mansakonko Area Council during Ceesay's leadership.
As the inquiry progresses, more details are expected to emerge, providing a clearer picture of the extent of financial mismanagement within the local government. The commission continues its efforts to hold accountable those responsible for the lapses in financial governance.
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