By Omar Bah
The Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) has given the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) 30 days to provide explanation about millions of dalasis it expended ‘without proper documentations’.
The Committee found the discrepancies in KMC’s annual Activity Reports and audited Financial Statements for the years ended 31st December 2017 to 2021.
According to FPAC, during the interface with the Board and Management of KMC, it observed that several payment vouchers amounting to D7,677,470.61 have not been found within the vouchers submitted for audit review and therefore recommended that the Council must provide the missing voucher to FPAC for review within 30 days from the adoption of the report, failure of which the matter shall be referred to the Police for investigation
FPAC also noted ‘suspected fraud’ of D297,941.43 in respect of rates for the year 2020 because the transactions were deleted from the Matrix Data System, which resulted in non-banking of the transactions as per a memo dated 28 December 2020 with reference number Ref: KMC/FlN/342.
It noted that collections amounting to D60,000 by some collectors have not been posted to the accounts and that there is a risk that the amount in question is not accounted for and may, in effect, result in the understatement of revenue.
FPAC recommended that the amount in question should be reviewed by the KMC Management, adjusted accordingly and presented to the FPAC for review within 30 days from the adoption of this report.
FPAC also noted that a review of KMC Collectors’ Cash Book against the CRBR revealed an amount of D125,780 under lodged in different months throughout 2018.
It recommended that the misstatement in question should be investigated by the KMC Management and appropriate steps taken to regularise it within 30 days from the adoption of this report.
Mbalit project
According to FPAC, an outstanding balance of D121,806.00 in respect of shortages of revenue of the Mbalit Project by Ward Secretaries for the year 2021 was discovered, but no investigation was conducted, even though action was taken to recover the shortages from the Ward Secretaries.
FPAC recommended that the KMC Management give updates to them on the recovery of these monies within 30 days from the adoption of this report.
The Committee noted that the investigative report for the fraud allegation at the Council was not presented to them for review.
“The allegations include a loan of D12,000,000 secured for the purchase of a parcel of land for the Councils’ Senior Management and an alleged forgery of a letter captioned: Guarantee purchase of land advance agreement purportedly written by the Council Solicitation and receipt of a bribe of D30,000,” FPAC noted.
The Committee recommends that the KMC Management present the official Investigative Report to the FPAC within 30 days from the adoption of this report.
According to FPAC, the KMC paid an unapproved Transport Allowance of D500.00 and risk allowance of D1,000.00 to the Manager and Supervisor of the Environment and Sanitation Unit of the Council from the Mbalit project. However, a request for Council resolution that was passed for the payments was not presented to the FPAC for review.
The Committee recommended that the authority or approval for these allowances should be provided, failing which, the payments should be stopped immediately.
FPAC also discovered that GTRs to the tune of D186,650 were not presented for inspection.
“These GTRs were recorded in the revenue collectors’ Cash Books but the physical GTRs were not provided for audit inspection.”
According to FPAC, the GTR of D141,464 with numbers 3002501 to 3002600 dated 05 March 2020 used by Keway Jeng were not presented. The Committee recommended that the KMC Management ensure that these receipt books are presented to the FPAC for verification within 30 days from the adoption of this report, failure to do so will result in the matter being referred to the police for investigation.
The Committee noted that the Council purchased a Hammer Mill at a cost of D1,143,198.19 which included D34,931 for fees and charges by Gamdirect Money Transfer. “It was however discovered that the Council did not use this machine since it was purchased and the machine is not included in the Fixed Asset Register. Moreover, it was also noted that the purchase did not follow GPPA procedures.”
The Committee noted excess expenditure of D12,605,860 between actual and budgeted expenditure and also discovered late banking of D1,326,492.50 in contrast to the Financial Regulations.
In 2010, the Committee added, an accumulated amount of D805,693,000 was recorded in the Council’s asset register as the total value of 48 properties (land and building) owned by the Council but there was no evidence such as Title Deeds for proof of ownership and Valuation Report to confirm.
Read more on the report tomorrow.
