Mr Ousman Bah, the Councillor for Giboro Ward and also the Development Committee Chairperson of the same Council, testified that he was first elected in May 2018 and re-elected in May 2022.
He told the commission that he was the chairman of the Development Committee, secretary to the Establishment and Appointment Committee, member of the Market Committee, and a member of the Social Committee.
The witness claimed that the Development Committee used to sit at least once every month or sometimes twice a month.
He was handed a file containing the minutes of the Development Committee meetings. There were no meetings for 2019 while the years 2020, 2021, and 2022 each had one meeting minute. There was none for 2023. The witness could not provide any direct answer. Instead, he related a piece of information he received from his secretary, Bubacar N. Kanteh of Kartong Ward, about missing files. The witness said the files were placed somewhere at the office of the Vice Chairman, but one day they went missing. He added that there were copies of the meeting minutes. He was asked to provide the copies on or before next Wednesday. He stated that the Social Committee was very dormant.
The witness was asked about the ward allocation he received from the Brikama Area Council. He testified that he received it only once and it was in 2019 for an amount of Five Hundred Thousand Dalasi (D500,000). He was asked to account for the money.
He stated that the idea to provide all the wards with an allocation for their development initiatives came from the Development Committee. He added that they were informed that the funds available cannot serve the entire 28 wards.
This was when the idea of application was conceived and there were criteria set up for the wards to benefit from the allocation. The witness said the criteria were developed at the Planning and Development Unit of the Council. The criteria included the Ward must have an account, proposed plan, and evidence of meeting minutes. He maintained that in the first disbursement, only 5 wards filed their documents, and they all fulfilled the requirements.
He claimed that equal opportunity was accorded to all the wards, but only 5 applied; adding that in the second disbursement, the number of wards that applied was more than 5 and vetting was done to see those that complied with the requirements. In addition, the witness testified that the Development Committee decided that the 5 wards to be allocated would be 2 from Kombo, 2 from Foni, and 1 from Jabang Ward.
The witness testified that he was a member of the selection team, and his ward was given the allocation with the claim that they fulfilled all requirements.
The Commission noted that information about that process was not contained in the Development Committee file.
The witness claimed that there were records. He was instructed to bring the records to the Commission latest next Wednesday. Contrary to what the witness claimed, one of the Councillors had previously testified that 9 wards were allocated instead of 10.
The witness was informed about the claims that the process of allocation was biased, but he refuted that saying all of the wards had equal opportunity and those that fulfilled the criteria were allocated the funds.
He was questioned about the Geology Funds sent by the Accountant General to the Council for the mining communities. The witness said mining activities took place in Giboro Ward because they have sand and gravel.
He claimed that the issue of Geology Funds was discussed in the Council as they were informed about the fund from the Government.
"After our discussion, disbursement became the problem. We pursued them until we went into the election and the money was not given to us. We followed them until this year (2024) when we got our first allocation," the witness said.
He was informed that the Funds were paid periodically to the Council. He stated that he only got the first disbursement of the Geology Funds in 2024, while in his first tenure, he did not receive it.
He was asked about the Tobaski and Koriteh Salibo paid to them in the name of an "honorarium." The witness stated that they used to perceive the payment as an honorarium, and he later came to know that it was an unlawful payment. He admitted that the so-called honorarium was illegal.
He testified that the law requires the Council to sit at least once each month, but during the time of Chairman Sheriffo Sonko, they used to sit for about 4 months without holding any general council meetings. He added that the excuse Sonko gave them was that he did not have an agenda for organising the monthly meetings.
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He testified that after their letter was received by the Clerk and copied to the Chairman, a meeting was convened but it could not proceed because there was no quorum. He added that this was because 16 of them who signed the letter refused to attend the meeting.
He said the Vice Chairman also did not organise a meeting during this period, adding they thought the Chairman was occupying office illegally.
The witness testified that their decision to abstain from council meetings and activities was not correct. He added that the expulsion of Sheriffo Sonko from his party should not have stopped them from attending the meetings.
He also testified that they were paid their monthly allowance despite their boycott of the Council's meetings and activities. He added that he was attending committee meetings during this time. He could not provide details. He was instructed to bring the meeting minutes.
