Edrissa Ceesay, Testifying Before The Local Government Commission
By Ramatoulie Jawo
Edrissa Ceesay, Chairman of the Establishment Committee of the Kuntaur Area Council, appeared before the Local Government Commission to testify regarding the disappearance of three General Triplicate Receipt (GTR) books under the custody of Ansu Trawally, an accounting assistant.
During his testimony, Mr. Ceesay stated that he has been serving as a ward councilor since 2018. He explained that the Establishment Committee is responsible for overseeing staff affairs, primarily making recommendations to the administration and the Local Government Services Commission. However, the committee does not have the authority to employ staff, as the CEO is responsible for appointing individuals within certain grades based on recommendations.
Mr. Ceesay revealed that the issue of the missing GTR books was never officially reported to the Establishment Committee. He only became aware of the matter when reviewing the staff register and noticing that Ansu Trawally had stopped reporting to work. Upon further inquiry, he was informed that Trawally had been suspended.
“I told the CEO that he was supposed to inform the establishment committee about the matter at the earliest time, I told him we have to call for a meeting so that we can also hear from Ansu Trawally,” he told the commission.
According to Ceesay, during the meeting, the committee instructed Trawally to obtain a police report, as they believed the missing GTR books involved revenue collection, making it impossible to estimate the financial impact.
“Then I questioned the director of finance, how Ansu got hold of all these three GTR books at the same time. The director of finance said he was the one who gave Ansu the book because sometimes when they go away the books are finished and some people are ready to pay. That was why he gave him those three books at the same time,” he said.
Ceesay added that Trawally reported the matter to the police, who conducted an investigation and later issued a report. Based on this police report, the committee recommended that Trawally be reinstated
During the hearing, Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez questioned the committee’s decision to advise Trawally to obtain a police report rather than reporting the matter to law enforcement themselves.
“You see you people are the problem. Most of the councilors we have are more or less like a family business for them you don’t follow any regulations you don’t follow any rules. Why would you even advise Ansu in the first place to go get a police report he did not report this matter to the police immediately.”Counsel Gomez told the witness.
Mr. Ceesay defended the committee’s decision, stating that they needed an official police report to determine the next steps. However, Counsel Gomez criticized the council for failing to publicly disclose the issue.
“You have an issue before you Ansu is the accounting assistant a whole receipt book of 100 can be worth 1 or 2 Million Dalasi and we don’t even know the value of the three receipts Ansu said he lost and you told him (Ansu)to go get a report and the police by the way never investigated this matter because we have the document,” Counsel Gomez told to the witness.
Counsel Gomez stated that Ansu went and narrated a story to the police and the police wrote the story and sent the council the copy.
“I suspect the police may have conspired with Ansu to commit fraud. This is not a report. Did you see any investigation here?” He asked.
Mr Cessay insisted that the police conducted an investigation because they produced a report.
The lead counsel then read the police report which indicated
“Sir reference to your report and request that was dated the 13th of November 2019 for the above subject matter at Kuntaur Police; that he was on a track within Lumos, whilst he was riding a motorcycle, the GTR receipt books were in his bag. Subsequently, the books dropped away so he could not notice them. So when he reached another Lumo market that was the time he realized the missing receipt books. He came to report the matter whilst needing help and a report. The GTR receipt books are recognized by their serial numbers. The said complainant, Ansu Trawally’s statement was obtained as a reference to clear his conscience and beyond reasonable doubt and to enact a police report for him and his office to take notice of the issue so that Ansu Tranwally can be allowed to continue his official function and duties in office,” the police statement reads.
Mr. Ceesay stated that the document presented was what they considered a police investigative report, adding that it was the CEO and Ansu Trawally who initially reported the matter to the police.
However, Lead Counsel Gomez criticized Mr. Ceesay for failing to handle the issue appropriately. He emphasized that, as chairman of the Establishment Committee, Ceesay should have ensured that due process was followed, especially given the uncertainty surrounding the financial value of the missing receipts.
Counsel Gomez further pointed out that there have been multiple instances where revenue collectors were found suppressing cash and asked Mr. Ceesay whether he was aware of these occurrences.
He stated that the committee had informed the administration about these irregularities and issued a directive to stop the practice immediately, with meeting minutes documenting the decision.
He explained that during their appraisal of staff files, they discovered that some employees had been issued letters for suppressing revenue. However, in certain cases, the files contained receipts indicating that the individuals had refunded the missing funds.
“We have forwarded this to the administration to inform them this was irregular and we have written to them to make an immediate stop and this was fine through a meeting and there are minutes to this,” he said.