By Arret Jatta
Sheriffo Sonko, the former chairman of Brikama Area Council (BAC), yesterday testified at the Local Government Commission Inquiry, shedding light on financial irregularities during his tenure
Lead Counsel Gomez highlighted that a total amount of D1,446,769 of unaccounted funds would be his focus, but he began by questioning Sonko about the decision-making process in council, particularly regarding finance.
“Who has authority to do what in relation to approving checks or payments of any kind, and withdrawals of sums of monies? What is the structure you have in your administration,” Gomez asked.
“The structure that I met was that the CEO decides with his finance team, and that is the trend that we continued with,” Sonko responded.
He maintained that most of the payments made were not discussed with him.
However LG Commission took issues with several withdrawals done without receipts during Sonko’s time at BAC.
The former chairman claimed that the internal audit department was not functioning well during his tenure.
“Why was it not functioning well?”, Lead Counsel Gomez asked.
“Well, that is because the Principal Internal Auditor is somebody who is very hard to deal with,” Sonko said.
Gomez presented internal audit reports, including one dated May 8, 2022, which highlighted lapses in administration and procurement. Sonko acknowledged seeing the reports but couldn’t recall taking action.
The inquiry also looked into specific payments, including D499,500 paid to Sarasima Sama Trading for disaster relief without documentation. Sonko claimed he wasn’t aware of the payment and wasn’t around when it was made.
Lead Counsel further highlighted payments made in counsel that did not follow due process.
“There was a payment for office furniture from CB Arts Printing and Design. You pay to Ecobank D75,000 and only have one quotation and the signatures were not complete.
“Another D35,000 was paid to one Buba Badjie, with only one quotation received. Also one Lang Karamo Suwareh was paid D70,000 for six cubicle toilets and sock-ways at Farato Health Centre without quotations attached, and even the image of this particular work is not seen on the voucher. So, no evidence of work done and no required quotations,” Counsel Gomez put it to Sonko.
He further told the former chairman that the monies involved in all these transactions are huge. “You have an opportunity as a supervisor to know all these things, especially when it is documented in an audit report,” Gomez told Sonko.
“The payment of vouchers without receipts indicated that the transaction of a particular purchase were not made, that’s how it is written”, Gomez told the witness, adding that the implications of non-compliance means that the money might have been withdrawn in the name of trying to purchase an item whilst that may not be the case.
Sonko accepted that this was under his watch and that he had access to the audit reports but argued that during this period there was an issue at the council.
Asked to explain those issues, Sonko said there was a lack of service delivery, including no garbage trucks and no electricity.
“I was the one personally arranging with Nawec to make sure that we have electricity because then, the council was running like that for years without electricity. And nothing was done about it,” Sonko said.
