{"id":45716,"date":"2023-10-25T15:46:17","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T15:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?p=45716"},"modified":"2023-10-25T14:52:58","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T14:52:58","slug":"bsacs-ex-finance-director-accepts-liability-for-withdrawal-of-huge-sums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/bsacs-ex-finance-director-accepts-liability-for-withdrawal-of-huge-sums","title":{"rendered":"BsAC’s ex-finance director accepts liability for withdrawal of huge sums"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Testifying before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, Lamin Suso, the former finance director at Basse Area Council (BsAC), accepted liability for the withdrawals of hefty sums of money.<\/b><\/p>\n

As per evidence before the Commission, auditors from the Internal Audit Directorate discovered that D51 million was withdrawn from the Basse Area Council\u2019s accounts between January 2020 and October 2022 by members of the finance unit, which Mr Suso heads, without following due process.<\/p>\n

The D51 million involves the withdrawal of D4,183,000 by Lamin Suso; D1,795,406.80 by Acting Finance Manager Malafi Badjie; D35,288,244.29 by Cashier Ndaba Krubally; D765,569 by Budget Officer Ousainou Touray; D1,367,254 by Procurement Officer Muhammed Jawneh, and D1,189,247 by License Manager Modou Lamin Gerew.<\/p>\n

The audits said one of the implications this had was that there was high risk for mismanagement of tax payers\u2019 money by the finance department. The auditors also argued that there was a risk of deviating from good practice and processing payments through due process for accountability and transparency purposes.<\/p>\n

Lamin Suso, appearing before the Commission, was confronted with these withdrawals amounting to over D51 million.<\/p>\n

He attested that the monies were used to fund council activities, adding that “huge sum of the money was for the payment of salaries”.<\/p>\n

Lamin Suso said he is ready to work with his team to provide justifications for the withdrawals by members of BsAC’s Finance Unit under him from the council\u2019s accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cAuditors want to do correct auditing and ensure that it is perfect, which is not possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy will a procurement officer be making withdrawal and deposits?\u201d Patrick Gomez asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe authority is verbal,\u201d Lamin Suso said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has no business with the accounts,\u201d Patrick Gomez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Lamin Suso said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very unlawful to do that,\u201d Patrick Gomez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Lamin Suso answered.<\/p>\n

Suso told the Commission that the auditors spent only 3 weeks at the Basse Area Council. He added that he made reconciliation with the Serious Investigation Unit of the Gambia Police Force who spent 21 days in Basse.<\/p>\n

Lamin Suso lamented that the Management Responses for the audit queries were wrong. He provided two letters he wrote to the CEO challenging the Management Responses. The letters were admitted in evidence and marked as exhibits.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you provide the auditors with the monthly reports?\u201d Patrick Gomez asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the auditors came, I gave them 2020 monthly reconciliation,\u201d Lamin Suso said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am concerned with the period when you assumed office. Did you provide the auditors monthly reports?\u201d Gomez asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Suso said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you do not provide monthly reconciliation, then that is the first point of failure,\u201d Patrick Gomez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I did not. That is a failure,\u201d Lamin Suso admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you provide financial statements?\u201d Patrick Gomez asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, but I have provided an explanation,\u201d Lamin Suso replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the entire 2021, there was no financial statement. It is not a choice. It is mandatory. How will you inform your employer how you spent the Area Council\u2019s funds?\u201d Patrick Gomez asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, there was no financial statement,\u201d Lamin Suso said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have documentation for the withdrawals,\u201d Lawyer Gomez asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, but I have explanation,\u201d Lamin Suso replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have documentation,\u201d Patrick Gomez asked again.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Lamin Suso replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs per the Financial Manual, are you aware that you are solely responsible for those withdrawals?\u201d Lawyer Gomez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Lamin Suso said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you accept liability for these monies?\u201d Patrick Gomez asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Lamin Suso replied.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. Testifying before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, Lamin Suso, the former finance director at Basse Area Council (BsAC), accepted liability for the withdrawals of hefty sums of money. As per evidence before the Commission, auditors from the Internal Audit Directorate discovered that D51 million was withdrawn from the Basse Area Council\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":45715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[2355,2361,260],"class_list":["post-45716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nBsAC's ex-finance director accepts liability for withdrawal of huge sums - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Testifying before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, Lamin Suso, the former finance director at Basse Area C ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/bsacs-ex-finance-director-accepts-liability-for-withdrawal-of-huge-sums\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BsAC's ex-finance director accepts liability for withdrawal of huge sums\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Testifying before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, Lamin Suso, the former finance director at Basse Area C ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/bsacs-ex-finance-director-accepts-liability-for-withdrawal-of-huge-sums\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-25T15:46:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/10\/sm_1698232716.329486.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1210\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"642\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/bsacs-ex-finance-director-accepts-liability-for-withdrawal-of-huge-sums#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/bsacs-ex-finance-director-accepts-liability-for-withdrawal-of-huge-sums\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"BsAC’s ex-finance director accepts liability for withdrawal of huge sums\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-25T15:46:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/bsacs-ex-finance-director-accepts-liability-for-withdrawal-of-huge-sums\"},\"wordCount\":601,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/bsacs-ex-finance-director-accepts-liability-for-withdrawal-of-huge-sums#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/10\/sm_1698232716.329486.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/bsacs-ex-finance-director-accepts-liability-for-withdrawal-of-huge-sums#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/bsacs-ex-finance-director-accepts-liability-for-withdrawal-of-huge-sums\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/bsacs-ex-finance-director-accepts-liability-for-withdrawal-of-huge-sums\",\"name\":\"BsAC's ex-finance director accepts liability for withdrawal of huge sums - 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