Modou Jonga, former chief executive officer for Brikama Area Council, has been grilled for failing to explain how hundreds of thousands of dalasi of the council was spent, as he appeared before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry investigating the activities of the councils.

The two payment vouchers were paid on 31st January and 13th October 2021, respectively, in which the witness confirmed signing them. The first payment voucher was an official trip to Grand Yoff in Senegal, which took place from the 16th to the 20th of January 2021.

The names of the councillors and staff of the council for the trip are: Hon. Lamin Jarju, Hon. Abby Bangura, Hon. Fatou Jallow, Hon. Cherno Jawla, and Hon. Awa Sawo The staff are Ebrima Sawaneh, Alagie Jeng, Adama Bojang, Lamin Singhateh, Morro Sanneh, and Kebba Manneh.

The amount to be paid was D607,650 which was signed by the accounts clerk of the council and cleared by the internal auditor but the paying out cashier has not signed it and the witness said he has no idea why that happened.

The witness was asked the purpose of the second voucher, which was dated 13th October 2021 with a voucher number of 21000529 by Counsel Patrick Gomez. The witness said it was also an official trip and looked like an old payment for the same trip.

He added that the voucher is also for the 16th to 20th of January 2021, confirming that it was also meant for the same trip to Grand Yoff Municipality, Senegal. Jonga said the second voucher is D630,720 meant for the same trip.

He was asked who authenticated the voucher because it was prepared by the accounts clerk and was signed on the 5th of June 2021 and the witness replied in the affirmative.

He also confirmed that the voucher was cleared by the internal auditor on the 5th of June as well as himself and the Director of Finance but no payment was made to the cashier and the recipient did not sign it.

The witness stated that they got travel clearance from the Ministry of Lands Regional Government and Religious Affairs. 

Counsel Patrick Gomez asked him why he had to raise two payment vouchers and two payments for the same travel.

The witness replied that it was clearly wrong and added that the instruction on the clearance letter from the ministry stated that an advance payment of D330,000 was to be made but he said he couldn’t explain why there had to be two payment vouchers for the same reason.

He was asked to explain why two payment vouchers were raised for the same trip, but the witness again said; “I honestly do not have an adequate explanation to give. It is completely very incorrect to have two vouchers for the same thing”.

He requested that the commission give him time to confirm the payments from the Finance Director, saying one of the payments was made at Eco Bank and the second one at Guaranty Trust Bank.

At this point, Counsel Gomez interjected that all the necessary documents were present, and the witness said he was not disputing that but needed to find out exactly the cause for making two payments for the same trip.

“I am just seeing this for the first time,” the witness lamented. Again, Counsel Patrick Gomez refuted his claim of seeing it for the first time. He said the first time he (Modou Jonga) saw it was when he authorised it, and the second time was when the commission showed him the vouchers, and he replied in the affirmative.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba