By Arret Jatta
A former audit manager of the BCC, Aboulie Corr, currently among staff under interdiction, has alleged that he was offered D750,000 to cover up for the mayor of Banjul in the run up to election time.
According to Mr Corr, the message of the offer was conveyed to him by a third party who told him his cooperation was needed to remain silent not to injure the chances of the mayor.
Mr Corr alleged that this offer was made to him when he attempted to resign from BCC due to “financial mismanagement’.
Mr Corr further stated that he attempted to resign in 2020 due to these issues, but was convinced to stay.
Lead Counsel Gomez also asked if they offered him anything, to which Mr Corr replied: “Well, in 2023, January, I was privileged to be offered something but I did not take it.”
When asked by whom, Mr Corr said: “Well they said it was the mayor, according to the one who conveyed the offer.”
The witness was himself challenged on ethical matters by Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez who asked if his role as internal auditor and work for Rafela, could not be a conflict of interest. “I agree, that was the reason I stepped down,” Corr replied.
Lead Counsel Gomez also asked Corr about the 3.1M Euro project, and Mr Corr confirmed that he actively took part in the preparatory stage of the project.
When asked about payments made to the committee, Mr Corr explained that he was aware of the allowances, but did not approve them.
He specifically mentioned a trip to Kanilai where team members paid themselves D19,000 for three days, which was not in line with government policies.
Mayor responds
However, when The Standard reached out to Mayor Lowe to respond to these allegations, the mayor dismissed them as unfounded.
She charged that he who alleges must prove and Mr Corr should instead provide evidence for his allegations.
“Did he bring any evidence when he said that? One cannot make unfounded allegations, You have to provide proof of what you are saying,” she said.
