By Fatou Sillah
Lamin Darboe, the Councilor for Bundung Borehole Bantaba Ward, appeared on Tuesday to testify before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry.
During his testimony, he was questioned about a sum of 270,000 dalasis he and other councilors received in 2018 for a 25-day market inspection exercise.
The lead counsel asked, “There was in the year 2018, a voucher that was seen, 180818 is the voucher number. This is in relation to a market exercise of 25 days where there was an amount of Two hundred and seventy thousand Dalasi for two vouchers. Do you recall this?” the lead counsel asked.
Darboe confirmed he remembered the exercise but added that, when questioned during the investigation, officials mentioned it was for 26 days. “But I told them that I don’t remember how many days it was. I don’t have any papers that I signed, but I did the exercise, but I can’t tell how many days it was,” he clarified.
The lead counsel then suggested to the witness that he had stated he could not recall participating in the exercise.
In response, the witness explained that from 2018 to the present is a considerable time, making it challenging to remember certain details.
“That is why, when I came here, I told the commission that I wanted to amend some areas. 2018 to date is a very long time, so when they called you to ask questions and for you to answer, it was going to be difficult. That is why I said I can’t remember how many days, but I will not say that I did not do it,” he said.
The lead counsel questioned the witness about the purpose of the exercise. The witness explained that it was to inspect whether the collections happening in the markets were being processed. The lead counsel then asked if the witness had participated in all 25 days of the exercise.
“Yes I have seen that, I have signed all the 25 days but when I saw my signature, I was surprised how that happened because it was a long time ago,” The witness answered.
The lead counsel then reminded the witness that if he intended to confirm his participation in the market exercise, he must be certain of his recollection.
“You have to remember, if you want to justify that, you have really attended 25 days of service, then you must remember. Because in your statement, you clearly state that you cannot remember taking part in this exercise, in your oral testimony, you now say that you recall taking part in this exercise. So since you recall taking part in this exercise, that is not supposed to be a problem. Now the question is, will you give us the details of the exercise?” The lead council said.
The witness responded, stating he couldn’t provide details of the exercise as he hadn’t taken any notes. The lead counsel pointed out that he couldn’t “eat his cake and have it too.”
“Mr Darboe don’t do that, you cannot eat your cake and have it. You have to choose one, is either Mr. Darboe you took part in the exercise 25 days, and you were paid, or you did not take part in the exercise,” He said.
The witness then confirmed that he had indeed participated in the exercise.
Following this, the lead counsel referenced testimonies from other witnesses concerning the exercise and questioned the witness once more.
“Did you take part in the 25-day market exercise? If your answer is yes trust me I will ask you 15 questions about this, and if your answer is no, or you can’t remember we move on to other issues” He Said.
The witness stated, “When I saw my signatures in the 25 days, I was surprised at how it happened, but I can’t remember that we did the exercise for 25 days.”
After some back-and-forth, the lead counsel presented the register to the witness and asked if he had signed it each day upon arriving at the market. The witness confirmed he had.
“Is it possible that you did all these signatures in one day?” the counsel inquired.
The witness objected to that. The lead counsel then told the witness that Karamo Ceesay who was the coordinator of the market exercise, told the commission that, everyone who signed the document signed it the same day. And now you are sitting here saying no, saying that you have signed it on different days. “Karamo Ceesay said all of you signed it in one day, 25 times, and got paid. What is your response to that?” I can’t recall that,” said the witness.
Patrick then stated, “Mr. Darboe, because your testimony is not truthful. Do you understand that?” The witness replied, “Yes.”