Executive members of the Motor Drivers and General Transport Workers Union are now in disarray as allegations of corruption made by the Regional Secretary-South, Chief Moses M. Sandy against the General Secretary, Sheik Imam K. Kamara have rocked the administrative wing of the Union.
Chief Sandy was implicated in duplication of manifest sent from the Union to the Southern Region Branch for sale to drivers plying various routes in that part of the country. The report states that Chief Sandy photocopied these manifest and sent them to Gendema collecting more than Two Million Leones as proceeds from the sales. This fraud was later discovered and the reports alongside the evidences were brought to Freetown for the Central Executive Committee to take action.
“The Central Executive Committee is the highest body in the Union and after deliberations, they found Chief Sandy guilty and recommended that he be expelled from the Union,” said the Union President, Alhaji Abubakarr Fofanah in an interview with this press.
Alhaji Fofanah further explained that after the decision was taken, somebody within that committee divulged the decision of the committee to Chief Sandy, thereby making it very difficult for the latter to receive correspondence from the Union.
“It was after this meeting that Chief Sandy implicated the General Secretary but not officially so I advised him to make it formal. On the 25th May, he wrote a letter alleging that the General Secretary is involved in fraudulent activities and abuse of office. The next day, I acknowledged receipt of his letter and asked him to come forward with his evidence within 72 hours or else the matter would be dropped. He failed to meet the deadline but sent some unsubstantiated evidences on the 31st May but I told the carrier to tell him to see me and explain the documents to our understanding, but to no avail. He can’t even pick my calls, so what do you expect me to do?” asked the Union President.
According to Chief Sandy, the General Secretary on the 18th October last year sent him 63 membership ID Cards without the normal procedure of the recipient signing a covering letter and when he enquired why, the General Secretary told him, those cards were for him personally as he was currently constructing a house.
“The normal procedure is that whatever is supplied should be signed for and the amount paid to the Treasurer but in this case, I did not sign for them and monies meant for those cards were paid directly to him without any recorded evidence. Cards supplied officially have serial numbers 001001 on to 001520 series while the fake ones have numbers within 001700-001999,” alleged Chief Sandy.
He disclosed that sales for those ‘fraud cards’ were paid to the General Secretary by bits according to the sales; November 6th-Six Hundred Thousand Leones for 20 cards, November 17th and 29th, Three Hundred Thousand Leones on each date for 20 cards, January 18, 2010, Three Hundred and Ninety Thousand Leones for 13 cards and on the 22nd February 2010, Three Hundred Thousand Leones for 10 cards amounting to the sum of One Million, Eight Hundred and Ninety Thousand Leones.
“This is the usual habit of the General Secretary as he always said doing that for him is our own way of contributing to the construction of his house. I did not receive a cent from him in this exercise as he usually tells me to find my own way of getting money in the Union, which I did and he did not protect me even though we are in the same boat,” said Chief Sandy.
However, the General Secretary, Sheik Imam K. Kamara, when contacted on his mobile phone over the weekend, denied the allegations made by Chief Moses M. Sandy describing his evidences or documents as “fake, misleading and illegal.” He explained that since his union has issued a press release to put an injunction on further publication of the matter, he would say no more about it.
“We have warned the press not to publicize anything on this matter but if you persist on publishing anything inimical to the union, we will seek redress in the court of law and not the Independent Media Commission (IMC),” threatened the Union Scribe.
Meanwhile, this press is investigating further alleged corruption in connection with a jeep bought by the Union but purportedly registered in the name of the Union President and also about a company collecting park dues, whose office address is the residence of the Union President. We are also investigating that company’s account (whose signatories are the Union President, General Secretary and the Treasurer), wherein some Drivers Union Executive members are also said to be part of this clique.
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