The article was culled from Burning Issues (FOROYAA) Publication
****************************
Commission Of Inquiry Into The Activities Of The Auditor General
As the commission of inquiry into the administrative activities of the
Auditor General open a fly fell into the milk
The inaugural ceremony and commencement of sitting into the activities of
the suspended Auditor General Fatoumatta Jallow took of on Monday 12th March
2001 at Court room one of the High Court in Banjul.
In his inaugural speech the Chairman of the Commission JusticeOlwi Ikpi Ham
made the following address:
As must all no doubt be aware, His Excellency, the President, in exercise of
power conferred on him by section 200 of the constitution of the republic of
the Gambia, 1997, issued an instrument dated December 26th 2000,
constituting the commission. It is legal Notice No.6 of 2000 publishing as
supplement 'A' to the Gambia Gazette No.6 of 28th December 2000.
The terms of reference of the commission, which also constitutes its
authority, are to:-
(a) Inquire into investigation the administrative activities of Ms.
Fatoumatta Jallow in her capacity as Auditor General and ascertain-
(I) Whether or not any malpractices or financial irregularities or abuse of
power and public office were committed by her alone or by her in collusion
with any other person with respect to those activities,
(II) The nature and extent of the malpractices or financial irregularities
or abuse of power and public office,
(III) The identities of all the persons involved in the malpractices or
financial irregularities or abuse of power and public office, and
(IV) The amount of public funds lost as a result of the malpractices or
financial irregularities or abuse of power and public office;
(b) Inquire into any matter which may be related to the malpractices or
financial irregularities or the abuse of power and public office, and
(c) Furnish, in writing to the President, a report on the results of the
inquiry, including a statement of the reasons leading to the conclusion of
the commission.
The commission is mandated to complete its inquiry within a period of three
months from its first sitting. As the commission intends to commence its
first sitting today, soon after this briefing its life span shall be deemed
to commence today.
After due deliberation , the commission has resolved to complete its
assignment and submit its report to the Appointing Authority i.e. The
President, within three months from today; for the following simple
reasons:-
(a) To save/minimise waste of scarce public funds/resources.
(b) To save/minimise the expenses, time, labour and anguish of witnesses and
their relatives etc.
(c) To enable commission officials or witnesses who are public officers,
and, all other parties concerned, to go back to, or resume their normal
activities,, as soon as practicable..
(d) To save members of the general public from waiting too long for the
results of the investigation or the report thereof..
(e) To enable the Appointing Authority receive and consider our report as
early as practicable.
Co-operation
It is the earnest hope and expectation of the commission that all the
interested and concerned parties, shall give maximum co-operation, to ensure
that the above laudable objective is speedily and conveniently achieved. In
any event, notice is hereby given to all concerned, that the commission
intends to complete its assignment on schedule.
Fact finding
At this juncture it may be pertinent and desirable, for the avoidance of
doubts, to state and emphasise, that this is strictly a fact finding
commission, and not a Court of Law. There is no prosecutor or plaintiff.
There is no Accused or Defendant. It is not our mandate to find any one
guilty or not guilty as charged and send him or her to prison. Nor is it our
function to find out any person liable or not liable as claimed and impose
any penalty or award. Like I stated earlier, we are here to merely establish
the facts; after evaluating all the evidence adduced from all the
constitution witnesses, and thereafter submit a written report to the
Appointing Authority. As you are all fully aware, where there are serious
accusations and counter accusations, it is only fair and just in the overall
interests of all concerned, to find out what the truth is or where the truth
lies. This is what is universally known as principle of fair hearing, and it
is as old as the history of humanity.
To carry out its assignment, a Chairman who is a serving Judge of the High
Court of The Gambia, and two members have been appointed. Both members are
hard working and honourable retired Senior Civil Servants. The first is very
experienced in public finance. Both are all fair and fine gentlemen, and I
have full confidence in their patience, sense of fairness and ability to
carry out this onerous and challenging task ahead of all of us. Ladies and
gentlemen, please permit me to introduce Mr. Gabriel O. Bright who is
sitting by my right hand side and Mr. Momodou A. Sisay who is sitting by my
left hand side.
At this juncture, let me straightaway proceed to also introduce to you, the
Principal Officers duly appointed to assist the Commission, namely:-
a. Mr. Dawda Fadera The secretary. He is a Principal Assistant Secretary in
the personnel Management Office, and a very able and capable Public
Administrator. He is ably assisted by Mrs. Mariama Badji who is the Private
Secretary of the commission.
b. Mr. Joseph Olulana The Leading Council. He is the Director of Civil
Litigation and International Law in the Attorney General's Chambers, and , a
long established Legal Practitioner, well known for his wide experience and
dedication to duty. He shall be ably assisted by Mr. Enoma Osaikhuwu, who is
also an able and diligent Senior State Counsel.
c. Also assigned to the commission to attend upon members, preserve order,
serve process etc. relating to the Commission, are, carefully selected
Police Officers Led by an Inspector. You are please requested to treat them
and any investigating officer and indeed; all officers of the commission, as
partners or facilitators in the search for the truth. Any complaint or
grievance against any member or officer of the Commission whosoever, should
please be promptly reported to the Secretary or other appropriate Authority.
What the commission shall not, I repeat shall not, entertain or condone is
any misconduct or unruly behaviour or any attempt whatsoever or howsoever to
take the law into ones hands or influence or scandalise. Proper behaviour
and decorum shall be maintained at all times till the conclusion of this
assignment. We insist and shall insist upon that. I will say no more on
this.
The rest of the statement of the chairman shall be published in our next
issue.
What is significant is that Mr. Ousman Sillah who is the counsel for Ms.
Fatoumatta Jallow raised some questions regarding Mr. Bright and Sisay.
After the chairman's inaugural speech it was followed by questions and
answers from the press and the members of the public. Then the commissioners
went into the chambers. At noon it resumed sittings, during which Mr. Joseph
Olulana stood up to announce his appearance for the state and that he is
assisted by Mr. Enoma Osaikhuwu while Mr. Ousman Sillah represented the
suspended Auditor General. Mr. Sillah then pointed out that he had an
observation to make; it was granted.
Mr. Sillah then in his submission to the commission said he had raised a
concern to the appointing authorities about a constitutional requirement;
that members of the commission should be seen to be impartial and fair. This
he said has been alluded to by the chairman in his speech. Mr. Sillah then
said that the issue commission's fairness and impartiality but now the
commission will be received from the out side.
Mr. Sillah then made reference to his letter addressed to the Appointing
Authority of the commissioners on 25th January 2001, concerning the
appointment of the two, noting that it would put the very essence of the
commission into doubt concerning it's impartiality and fairness. The letter
reads;
"Re: Commission Of Inquiry Into The Administrative Activities Of Ms.
Fatoumatta Jallow Auditor General Of The Gambia
''My services have been retained by Ms. Fatoumatta Jallow whose
administrative activities as Auditor General is the subject of the
commission of inquiry. Such commissions are required under section 202 of
the constitution to "make a full and impartial investigation into the matter
in respect of which the commission is established.."
''The composition or the membership of the commission, is a matter of
justifiable concern to my client. Mr. M.A. Sisay one of the commissioners
was the immediate subordinate of my client at the National Audit Office who
was assigned the responsibility of the day to day administration and
management of the financial resources of the National Audit Office. Most of
the administrative correspondence were written by him and expenditure of the
office were authorised by him on behalf of the Auditor general. This was the
situation at the time my client was appointed Auditor general in August 1994
until Mr. Sisay proceeded on leave in March 2000 prior to retirement in
August 2000.
''In these circumstances and in the light of the terms of reference of the
commission it is with respect, your Excellency, most inappropriate that Mr.
Sisay sits as a commissioner in this inquiry, the commission being a
quasi-judicial body.
''Mr. G.O. Bright, another commissioner was adversely affected by my client'
s audit report on the Royal Victoria Hospital, when he was a member of the
Hospital Management Board. The report featured in a commission of inquiry
proceedings.
It is imperative that the composition of the commission should be seen to be
made up of persons who have no interest whatsoever in the matter under
reference, so as to avoid every likelihood of bias.
''The maxim that justice must not only be done but be seen to have been done
yearns for application in the situation.
''I therefore urge your Excellency on behalf of my client to review the
composition of the commission to reflect a just and impartial panel..
The terms of reference of the commission is an additional cause for
concern.. Most of theterms are premised on the presumption that the subject
activity for investigation had been committed and that the investigation
should focus on, for example, whether she committed it alone or with others;
the identify of persons involved; the amount of public fund lost. The
question of, if, or whether, those activities were committed or occurred
ought to have been expressed focal issues for the commission which would
augur well for precision in such a legalistic matter.
''The terms of reference in my view need some drastic redrafting to ensure
the impartiality and fullness of the investigation contemplated by the
constitution.
Ousman .E. Sillah"
He submitted that Mr. Sisay had been the immediate assistance of the
suspended Auditor General Fatoumatta Jallow from her appointment in August
1994 to March 2000; that during Mr. Sisay's term of office at the Auditor
general's Department he was in charge of administration and finance. For
G.O. Bright, Mr. Sillah said that Mr. Bright had even been affected by the
report of the Auditor General which was a subject of a commission of inquiry
before Justice Alghali; that Mr. Bright was a member of the Board of R.V.H.;
that when the board members appeared before the commission they were asked
to pay certain amount to the commission. Mr. Sillah then went to question
how can the functions of Mr. Bright and Sisay be seen to be fair and
impartial. Mr. Sillah then called on the chairman to take up the matter with
the appointing officers in thefairness in the interest of justice, fairness
and impartiality.; that in the interim the commission should stop inquiring
into the administrative activities of the suspended Auditor General. The
chairman then asked Mr. Sillah about documents that can prove his
allegations against Mr. Sisay and Bright.. Mr. Sillah submitted that the
report of the Alghali commission was not made public and that since
suspension of Fatoumatta Jallow she has not had access to her office that it
is from that office where she can have access to documents relating to Mr.
Sisay.
The reply from the office of President reads as follows;
Re: Commission Of Inquiry Into The Administrative Activities Of Ms.
Fatoumatta Jallow Auditor General Of The Gambia.
Your letter of 25th January 2001, H.E. The President, on the caption, is
hereby acknowledged and refers.
I am thus to inform you that subsequent to H.E's due and fair consideration
of your client's concern, as requested, the position is that neither the
composition of the commission nor its Terms of Reference will be varied.
Signed by A.A. Taylor
For Secretary General
A copy of the letter and a reply from the office of the President were then
tendered without objection and were marked exhibit one. Mr. Sillah then
submitted another on the terms of reference of the commission which he said
is an additional course for concern that the terms are promised on the
subject of the investigation as if it had already taken place and the
offence already committed that what is left is whether she had committed it
alone or with some others.. Mr. Olulana objected to the tendering of the
letter on the grounds that it was a photo copy. The copy was accepted and
marked I.D.A.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
