Two witnesses, one was a KMC staff and the other is a supervisor working for Metrix Solutions, have appeared before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry to testify about deleted transactions from the KMC system amounting over two million dalasi.
Yankuba Sonko is a resident of Tallinding and a former cashier for the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC). He is currently working with the National Audit Office (NAO). His employment with NAO commenced on 1 June 2024.
Lamin Ceesay, a resident of Kotu and an IT Technician for Metrix. He is a supervisor for the company.
Yankuba Sonko’s Testimony
The written statement of Yankuba Sonko dated 23 May 2023, and the additional statement dated 1 October 2024 were tendered admitted in evidence by the Commission.
He was employed in the KMC in May 2010 as a revenue collector. In 2018, he was deployed the market and returned to the council in July 2019 until 2021 as a receiving cashier.
As a cashier, he said he used to receive cash and then do reconciliation before depositing the funds in the bank accounts of the Council. He said the banks he used to deposit the funds were Eco Bank, Mega Bank, and Agib Bank. He added that he used to do pre-finances for the council in cases of emergencies like fire outbreaks at the dumpsite. He stated that when he collects today, he used to deposit it in the morning of the following day.
He said when they make mistakes in their entries in the system, they cannot delete them, and the only thing they do is to go to their supervisor to do a reversal. He added that he could not delete anything as a cashier.
The auditors suspected fraud of over 2 million dalasi with respect to rates as of 2020 for transactions that were deleted and the money was not taken to the bank. The witness admitted that he recorded the information in the system as he was the only cashier for rates. The auditors provided the dates, names of the property owners, receipts, amounts paid, and other information. The witness said the banking slips are attached to the reports he prepared. He was requested to bring the reports and the banking slip.
Lamin Ceesay’s Testimony
Lamin Ceesay, an IT technician for Metrix Solution, testified that they provide computer solutions. He has been working for the company for 8 years. He said the company is owned by Amadou Jallow (Managing Director) and Basiru Momodou Conteh (technical adviser). The witness said he supervises a team of about 6 developers in the company.
On their business relationship with the KMC, the witness said they developed an application for the KMC to manage their property rates system, which included their receipt system. He explained that the application contains the details of the property and generates invoices. He said about 15 people from the KMC were trained on how to operate the application.
He testified that the Metrix created the system and performed maintenance and updates, while the KMC retain the user rights.
“We cannot access their system without their authority,” he said.
He said with the permission of the KMC they can access it remotely and without it, they cannot access it. The witness was asked to expound on this, but his response was that they are required to obtain permission from the KMC to have user rights.
The witness was asked about the agreement they have with the KMC, but he stated that he did not come with it. He was asked to bring it tomorrow.
The witness said the application does not have the option for deleting any records. He was told the audit report for 2020 indicated that transactions amounting to over 2 million dalasi were deleted. The auditors provided the details of each of those transactions deleted.
The witness said the auditors were right. He added that the deletion was made from the daily table.
“You cannot delete in the database,” he said.
He said the database contains information like names of property owners, contacts, invoices, and other information.
Ceesay is expected to appear before the Commission tomorrow to do a demonstration of how the system works.
