By Arret Jatta
The Local Government Commission of Inquiry continued its probe into the financial dealings of Banjul City Council, with former CEO Mustapha Batchilly facing intense questioning from Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez.
Batchilly was testifying about his role in the council’s financial management and the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of former finance director, Mr Nyang.
According to Batchilly, Nyang was dismissed based on audit reports that highlighted financial irregularities. However, when asked why he wasn’t also suspended, Batchilly replied: “I don’t know.”
The commission’s attention turned to a task force report that implicated Batchilly and recommended his removal. The report stated that the CEO had “woefully failed” in his responsibilities, given the magnitude of mismanagement at the council. Batchilly acknowledged seeing the report and agreed that it recommended his removal, as well as that of the director of finance.
Lead Counsel Gomez pressed Batchilly on his role in authorising payments, pointing out that he had signed cheques with the director of finance.
“You authorised, you signed cheques. So whatever he had done is because you authorised it. So why would he go down and you do not go down?” Gomez quizzed.
Batchilly explained that he relied heavily on technical advice from his directors, including the director of finance as he was not a financial expert. However, Gomez challenged this response, contending: “The primary function of the director of finance is not to give advice. The director of finance is to serve as a neutral working with the CEO but to check the powers of the CEO, to remind the CEO that X, Y, Z cannot be done. The idea that you don’t have financial qualification is not an excuse. The idea that any mayor or mayoress did not have the education or experience or whatever is not an excuse. You are the one who went to ask for the people to vote for you. You are also the one who applied for the job and the job has criteria, qualification. The moment you knew you had no financial expertise, it became dishonest on your side to apply for the job”.
Commission chairwoman Jainaba Bah intervened, and questioned Batchilly about his failure to take action despite repeated errors and audit concerns. “You were supposed to have said no, you were supposed to have said, let me look at your documents, because there were documents that were presented to you.”
She emphasised that Batchilly had a responsibility to exercise oversight and ensure that financial transactions were properly managed.
“When you do your assessment, you know what you are supposed to collect at the end of the year. But nobody knows in any of the councils in this country how much they are supposed to collect as income because the senior management deliberately collude with the collectors to make sure that fraud is perpetually done, and this is why you cannot get records of financial transactions,” she berated. The hearings continue.
