Neo-Gambian

🇬🇲🇬🇲🚨: The Gambia Government has accepted most recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into Banjul City Council, directing police investigations, forensic audits, disciplinary action and referral for removal against Mayoress Roheyatou Malick Lowe, former CEO Mustapha Batchilly and others. The inquiry covered May 2018 to January 2023. The Commission found BCC’s financial and administrative governance materially deficient, with poor documentation, unsafe cash and imprest practices, payroll irregularities, weak procurement controls and revenue reconciliation gaps. It identified a minimum exposure of D29.425 million and a broader exposure envelope of D218.72 million, both subject to verification and not presented as proved losses. Named individuals are not to be treated as criminally convicted by the report alone. The Government accepted findings against Mayoress Lowe over verbal payment directives outside the budget, a serious conflict-of-interest concern in the D13.8 million dustbin contract, and the use of D795,000 in Council funds for legal fees in a personal case. It ordered police investigations of the legal fees, dustbin procurement and an allegedly related vehicle, a forensic audit of the legal fees, surcharge for unretired imprest, and referral of her removal to the General Council under the Local Government Act, together with a formal record of improper behaviour, negligence and failure of oversight. Former CEO Batchilly was referred for immediate suspension, fitness-for-office review, police investigation and forensic audit with surcharge. Other measures include proceedings and suspension for Director of Planning Katim Touray, police referral for License Manager Pa Modou Ndow, and investigations involving several other staff. The Government ordered the Ministry of Lands to inquire into Bond Road land allocations, with power to revoke those that did not follow due process. It also accepted failures of oversight by the Ministry of Lands and the Local Government Service Commission and ordered digital revenue collection, a scheme of service for collectors, records reform, training and faster review of the main local-government laws. The White Paper on BCC forms Volume 1 of the Government’s response to the wider inquiry into all eight councils. (Source Kexx News)