Peter Mendy, The Former Councilor for Kololi Ward
By Fatou Sillah.
During his testimony at the local government commission of inquiry on Monday, Peter Mendy, the former Councilor for Kololi Ward, discussed his son’s involvement in the Mbalit Collection, which resulted in a deficit of 60,000 Dalasi that he ultimately paid.
Mendy explained that he included his son in the collection process as a means of self-protection. However, lead counsel Patrick Gomez challenged his reasoning, stating that it was implausible, given that other employees were assigned to the task.
“You cannot convince anyone that your son was not part of the people collecting revenue because you had accepted to pay the outstanding balance. Is that not the case?” he asked
Mendy defended his decision, saying he wanted to safeguard his position and job, stating: “If you see us working at the council, we came from different parties. Whatever you are doing, that is the right thing to do; there will be people opposite you who will see to it that you have failed at it. That is why I chose my son to do it because that was the first year I got nominated to be there, and I was trying to protect my position and work.”
Gomez countered that this rationale was flawed, emphasizing that the collection of revenue is a public service that must adhere to proper procedures and laws.
“In that aspect, if you agree to pay the money, the reasonable conclusion is that your son was implicated. If he was not implicated, you would not have paid the money; that is a fact,” the counsel said.
In response, Mendy maintained, “I was going to pay the money even if my son was not there because, as far as that is my responsibility, I was in a position to pay.”
The lead counsel informed him that he would not be responsible for paying the money unless his son was involved or had access to it.
“Regardless of what you say here, no reasonable person would believe what you are saying. Unless your son has access to the money, it will not even be reasonable for the council to even ask that you pay the money, and if they acted unreasonably, any reasonable person will not have agreed to pay the money. The issue is that you put your son in a position he should not have been in, and he was engaged in fraudulent activities,” he said.
Mendy insisted that his son only had access to the ticket book. “My son only had access to the ticket book, that is what was given to him.”
Gomez countered, stating that the ticket book held significant value, explaining: “Money is not just cash but anything with value. The ticket book, you sell the ticket and get money, and then it has to generate income so if you have a ticket book of 100 tickets that are worth probably ten thousand Dalasi you have money in your hand. If your son perhaps sells any of these tickets and does not render a proper account for them, then they are stolen. Don’t tell us that he doesn’t have access to the cash, he has access to the cash because he has access to the tickets,” The Counsel states.