Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – The Local Government Commission of Inquiry on Monday ordered Banjul City Council (BCC) Audit Director Sanna Sawaneh to retrieve audit reports he deliberately withheld from the commission, as tensions flared over his refusal to submit key financial documents.

Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez confronted Sawaneh about the 2022 audit file he had received from his predecessor, Abdoulie J. Corr. While Corr testified that he handed over eight audit findings, Sawaneh admitted bringing only three before the commission.

When pressed on why he failed to submit the full set of reports, Sawaneh claimed he was unaware of their contents, arguing that “the documents in that file were of no use to me.” He insisted that his focus was on recent records, dismissing older reports as outdated.

However, Gomez challenged this explanation, making it clear that the commission was fully aware of the missing documents.

“You don’t come here and act like you don’t know what you are doing,” Gomez told Sawaneh. “You know exactly what you are doing—you just don’t want to produce the documents.”

Under mounting scrutiny, Sawaneh eventually admitted that he had access to the full file but had chosen not to review or submit certain documents.

Frustrated by his defiance, Commission Chairperson Jainaba Bah ordered him to leave the hearing and return with all withheld documents, including the full set of 2022 audit findings and four additional reports he had prepared since taking office.

“You cannot sit here and tell us you do not know what you received,” Bah said. “Go back and bring the full documents.”

While denying any intent to conceal evidence, Sawaneh agreed to comply with the order.

Earlier in the proceedings, he admitted that he had not reviewed past audit reports, saying he preferred to focus on recent financial matters.

“I am only interested in moving forward, not looking at the past,” he said.

Gomez, however, criticized this approach as a failure of professional responsibility.

“You should be interested in how the institution was managed before your tenure,” he argued. “Ignoring past reports means you are not doing your job properly.”

Commissioner Oreme J. Joiner also questioned Sawaneh’s reluctance to examine previous audits, pointing out that unresolved financial issues had been carried over from past years.

“Issues from previous reports have not been corrected,” Joiner said. “To understand what has happened, you should have reviewed those audit reports before taking any action.”

Sawaneh ultimately conceded that he had not used past reports as a reference.