Former Kerewan Area Council CEO Samba M.K Leigh admitted he approved payments without proper paperwork during recent hearings from March 4-6. The commission questioned him about money problems, unauthorized payments, and bad record-keeping. When they showed him a request form supposedly from the chairman's office, he confessed the document had no name or signature because he forgot to check before approving the money.
When asked who made the request, Leigh said he didn't know - yet he still authorized 210,000 to be withdrawn, plus other payments. He agreed the payment vouchers weren't prepared correctly, making them invalid. The commission discovered Leigh signed checks without properly signed vouchers. He acknowledged signing the checks but admitted he hadn't signed the payment forms. Commission members pointed out that proper vouchers need authorization, which many lacked.
They especially focused on a D500,000 payment to Halabal Trading that lacked documentation. Leigh defended this by claiming it happened openly with regional authorities present. He called the missing paperwork an "oversight." The commission examined several other payments under Leigh, including 150,000 to Business Farm (paid to Babu) plus additional amounts of 170,000, 50,000, 55,000, 65,000, 100,000, and 210,000.
All these payments lacked proper requests, and many vouchers weren't signed or created correctly. Leigh admitted there were mistakes and that he failed to follow procedures. Throughout his testimony, he repeatedly claimed financial problems "escaped his mind." The commission officially entered the questionable vouchers as evidence. His testimony revealed major financial mismanagement at Kerewan Area Council. The commission plans to investigate these money problems further and decide what actions to take next.
When asked who made the request, Leigh said he didn't know - yet he still authorized 210,000 to be withdrawn, plus other payments. He agreed the payment vouchers weren't prepared correctly, making them invalid. The commission discovered Leigh signed checks without properly signed vouchers. He acknowledged signing the checks but admitted he hadn't signed the payment forms. Commission members pointed out that proper vouchers need authorization, which many lacked.
They especially focused on a D500,000 payment to Halabal Trading that lacked documentation. Leigh defended this by claiming it happened openly with regional authorities present. He called the missing paperwork an "oversight." The commission examined several other payments under Leigh, including 150,000 to Business Farm (paid to Babu) plus additional amounts of 170,000, 50,000, 55,000, 65,000, 100,000, and 210,000.
All these payments lacked proper requests, and many vouchers weren't signed or created correctly. Leigh admitted there were mistakes and that he failed to follow procedures. Throughout his testimony, he repeatedly claimed financial problems "escaped his mind." The commission officially entered the questionable vouchers as evidence. His testimony revealed major financial mismanagement at Kerewan Area Council. The commission plans to investigate these money problems further and decide what actions to take next.
