Africa-Press – Gambia. Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), has clarified in an interview with Fatou Touray on Thursday that all vouchers amounting to the reported GMD 7.6 million previously flagged as “missing” have now been located. He said digital copies are currently in the council’s possession, while the original documents are with the ongoing Commission of Inquiry.
“The 7.6 million vouchers, the copies are all with us. The Finance Committee, led by Karamo Ceesay, found all the vouchers, the copies, but the originals are with the Commission of Inquiry, but the digital copies are with us. So we found all the listed vouchers,” Mayor Bensouda said.
He explained that the audit in question dates back to the year 2020 and was conducted in 2021, during a period of significant internal disruption at the council.
“So what people need to remember is this was the audit of 2020. This is not a recent audit, and this audit was happening in 2021. What was going on in KMC in 2021? We had PIU officers sent by the government to our council with guns. We had PIU officers trying to force the CEO back to her office,” Mayor Bensouda said.
Mayor Bensouda said the strained relationship between the council and the central government at the time severely impacted the administration’s functioning.
“So, how can we function as an administration when we are fighting with the government? Breaking the office for the CEO to enter. And this impasse, remember, it went on for a year or two because it started, we had an injunction. The High Court removed that injunction. They came again and broke the door. And all the time, there were armed officers; there was an impasse. That is when this audit was going on,” he added.
He further revealed that the initial figure for unpresented vouchers was over GMD 40 million, but through a concerted effort led by the director of finance, most were found, leaving only GMD 7.6 million outstanding by the time the audit concluded.
“But by the time they closed their audit, 7 million was unpresented, but an audit will not look at it as unpresented. They will say, Missing. Auditors, they don’t joke. If they ask you for something, they give you a deadline, and it doesn’t happen. They say these are missing. So that report, of course, goes to FPAC. FPAC, rightly so, will say, these are missing, and I give you 30 days to present them,” he explained.
Mayor Bensouda said FPAC subsequently gave the council 30 days to present the outstanding vouchers, a timeline that began last week. While digital copies have already been located, the originals remain with the Commission of Inquiry.
“So the 30 days started last week. So we have found all the digital copies of the voucher, 7.6 million. But the originals are with the Commission of Inquiry, because these are simultaneous things going on. They asked for all our documents. They took originals. They didn’t take copies. So we have written to them, asking for the originals so we can send those originals to FPAC,” he concluded.
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