Mr. Youssouf Camara, former Chief Accountant of the National Office for Vocational Training and Development (ONFPP) and Mrs. Diakité Fatoumata, financial controller appeared this Thursday, before the bar of the Court of Auditors, in the file that they are incriminated, by the budgetary discipline chamber, in particular in the irregular payment (expenses, etc.) for fuel bonuses, which would be granted monthly to former general managers, including Lucien Beindou Guilavogui.
After the reading of the file in which the presumed defendants are incriminated by the Court’s rapporteur, the presumed defendants, Youssouf Camara and Fatoumata Diakité explained to the court of the Court of Auditors that, this budget line in question already existed but , they are only executors of the orders that the Chiefs order them to pay. “It is the role of the financial controller and the Chief Accountant”, recalls Ms. Diakité Fatoumata at the helm, who appeared in this file as a witness, in this case of payment of bonuses in favor of the former Directors General of the ONFPP , in which Youssouf Camara, Chief Accountant is presumed accused.
And, following the explanations of his alleged defendants, the prosecution requested that the hearing be postponed until the Youssouf Camara promise is kept. That is to say, produce supporting files to the Court, on this old practice that Judge Mouctar Bah describes as illegal that the ONFPP experienced years ago.
Under article 74, the Court of Auditors considers that the management of Ms. Fatoumata Diakité is a mismanagement. On this, the Court annulled the procedure of testimony of lady Diakité but rather, the Court initiates legal proceedings once morest Mrs. Fatoumata Diakité. To this end, it is free to set up a collective of lawyers.
Then, still, in this case, the prosecution does not understand why Ms. Fatoumata is being prosecuted.
As requested by the prosecution and the lawyers of Mr. Youssouf Camara, the Court accepted the postponement of the hearing on March 30th.
At the end of the hearing, Me Abdoulaye Sylla, lawyer at the Court, constituted for the defense of Youssouf Camara, former Chief Accountant of the ONFPP said:
Indeed, Mr. Youssouf Camara advises Me Facinet Mara and I am his collaborator. So our client is being sued for mismanagement. Apparently, he would have paid amounts from the former DGs, which according to the prosecution, these amounts are not justified. Except that, on our part, Mr. Youssouf Camara does not reproach himself for anything. And earlier you listened to the testimony of Mrs. Fatoumata Diakité, financial controller, who is in charge of the financial control of her payments. The lady justified herself, she explained to the Court that, normally, she must affix her visa on the expenses before their payment. And, they read a provision, in particular article 68 of the general accounting regulations. You have effectively followed there also that all expenses not referred to or on which the visa of the financial controller does not appear is null and void. And, Mr. Youssouf Camara had no power to pay expenses to his former DGs, if the budget line did not exist, if he did not have a credit allocated to it and if there was not the visa of Ms. Diakité who ensures land control. So, it is by virtue of this that Mr. Youssouf Camara made the payment and today, the prosecution wants at all costs to involve or obtain the conviction of Mr. Youssouf Camara for mismanagement. Whereas, Mr Camara, as I said on the stand, we are quiet. as the Court asks to see the invoice for the amounts paid with the visa of the financial controller, we are going to mobilize his invoices there and come to present this and defend our client, or even ask for his outright release”, indicates Me Abdoulaye Sylla, lawyers at the court.
With Younoussa Bangoura, for guineelive.com
