Concord Times (Freetown)
Pel Koroma
5 November 2008
Freetown — Chief education officer Amadu Jallah was yesterday requested by the Samega Janneh commission of inquiry investigating the sababu education project to personally verify the said sababu projects at Hill Station that cost over Le 1 billion on paper but never materialized.
Jallah was reminded by the leading prosecutor, attorney general and minister of justice Abdul Serry-Kamal about a letter he wrote to one Bobson Francis in February this year concerning a sababu project that never existed at Hill Station.
According to the prosecutor, a two storey senior secondary school with four class rooms each that cost Le 564,55,708, a college of science and technology that was cost at Le 480,341,000.00, and a Rural vocational development school that were never undertaken at Hill Station .
"The projects were supposed to start on the January19, 2006 to have been completed on September 30, 2006," said Serry-Kamal.
The chief education officer at the time of the award of the contract denied knowledge of the award. At this juncture, Jallah was bashed by the prosecutor for not monitoring the projects at Hill Station. "But the projects never existed. I am instructing you now to go to Hill Station and find out whether these projects actualized and report to the commission next week," said Kamal.
Meanwhile, Cecil Coker, financial controller of the sababu project testified yesterday at the commission.
"I am basically responsible for all aspect of financial management, disbursement, replenishment and accounting for all projects," said Coker.
He said he disbursed to service providers who implemented the projects, made initial advance payment of 25% of the proposal value.
"There has to be a signed contract between service providers and the ministry of education," Coker said noting that the valuation certificates determine payment.
The prosecutor ordered the financial controller, a consultant of KPMG auditing firm, working with sababu to present to the commission all records of payments done to civil works service providers.
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