Remarkable disclosures have emerged from the Local Government Commission of Inquiry’s (LGCI) public session, during which former CEO Pa Sait Ceesay answered questions regarding privately produced receipt books utilized by the Mansakonko Area Council (MKAC).
Ceesay broke with council convention by admitting that he had made the personal decision to print these publications.

“I made the choice. Books of private GTR receipts were created. We desired to run the conference center independently of the council and in private. There were ten printed GTR books. Pa Sait stated, “It never made it to the council for approval.
Ceesay explained their actions by blaming them on financial pressure to increase council revenue.

However, Ceesay’s assertion of financial pressure was questioned after a vigorous cross-examination.

It was discovered that although the conference venue itself didn’t open until December 2019, the Supersonicz account associated with it did open in January 2019. This timeline refuted Ceesay’s assertion that he was operating under duress and raised questions about the real reason for printing receipt books that were sourced privately.

Although he acknowledged the dates, he maintained that these were temporary measures.
Chairperson Jainaba Bah questioned why the conference center was constructed with public funds while receipt books from private sources were used.

“It was a mistake on our end,” Ceesay answered.

When asked if he was aware that the Financial Manual for Councils specifically prohibits these kinds of activities, Ceesay acknowledged that he was at the time.

Ceesay asserted ignorance about the source of the privately produced receipt books, claiming that the transaction was handled by Bai Gibbi Sallah, the finance director at the time.

He said that he was aware that their activities were improper because the official receipt books were to have been acquired from GPPC with authorization from the local government ministry.

Ceesay explained that they were handling this type of facility for the first time and gave that as the reason for acquiring receipt books from a private source.

Since the majority of the property was undeveloped, the plan was to keep a fixed deposit account with Supersonicz Micro-Finance for a year and then approach financial institutions to extend the project.
He did concede, though, that the developed area was not as large as the undeveloped area.

Ceesay revealed in further testimony regarding the meeting center’s rates that VIP rooms cost D1000 per night, while regular rooms cost D750.

He disclosed that the conference center and the rooms are housed in a property where Momodou Saidybah was named manager. He acknowledged that the manager took payments without keeping track of the money received in a cash book.

He made an attempt to place the blame elsewhere, claiming that a capable finance director would have given the center manager a cash book. However, he was told that he was aware of everything going on at the center in his capacity as the council’s CEO, and he accepted this information. He stated that in the past, he would stop by the center virtually daily to observe their activities.

Commissioner Oreme E. Joiner expressed concerns regarding the manager’s dual remuneration, which came from the center for voluntary services and the council where she worked as a staff member.

In addition to confirming this procedure, Ceesay said that all of the center’s staff were contract workers who also gave voluntary services.

The former CEO also said that the finance director had a quarter, but that the rent was covered by the municipality.