By: Fatou Krubally
Banjul City Council’s Finance Director, Abdoulie T. M. Nyang, came under intense scrutiny on Wednesday as he struggled to account for more than D5.6 million in unbanked council revenue during his tenure.
Appearing before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, Mr. Nyang was confronted with audit findings showing consistent under-lodgement of council revenue between January and July 2018 — a period when he was in office. The total shortfall, according to figures presented by Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez, stood at D5,663,710.
In his defence, Nyang told the Commission that he was not present during the audit exercise and had not seen the report until now. He claimed that if he had been involved at the time, the discrepancies would have been cross-checked using the council’s cashbook and vouchers.
“During this audit exercise, I was not in the office,” Nyang said. “If I were, based on the management response, we would have checked how this came about using the cashbook and vouchers.”
He added that while he ensured daily banking of collected revenue, some payments were made in cash, which may not have been immediately deposited. He suggested that those cash payments, documented through vouchers, should have been presented to the auditors.
But the Commission found that explanation unconvincing. Chairperson Jainaba Bah told Nyang that the issue was not about vouchers, but rather a clear mismatch between amounts collected and deposited.
“What the auditors are saying is that what you received and what you deposited are two different things,” she said. “As the Finance Director, you should be in a position to know that.”
After a tense exchange, the Commission granted Nyang time to retrieve and submit relevant financial documents from the council to support his claims. He was ordered to provide explanations for the under lodgements recorded up to July 2018.