Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, THE GAMBIA) – The Government has accepted every recommendation the Local Government Commission of Inquiry made against Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda: economic crime, surcharge, legislative review, review of fitness for public office, improper behavior, and negligence. It has also asked the Council to begin proceedings to remove Mayor Bensouda from office.
The decision is in Volume 2 of the Government’s White Paper on the Commission’s report, which deals solely with KMC. The Commission was set up under Section 200 of the Constitution and covered the period from May 2018 to January 2023. It heard 386 witnesses across eight councils, with 98 of them testifying on KMC.
What the government decides
On economic crime, the White Paper ties this recommendation to the Mbalit waste project, which it says was marked by “weak oversight failures and poor supervisory role.” The Inspector General of Police is directed to open a criminal investigation to establish whether there is prima facie criminal culpability, meaning enough evidence on its face to justify a prosecution.
If there is, the file goes to the Attorney General’s Chambers for “immediate prosecution.” The paper does not say a crime has been proven.
On Surcharge, which is a legal mechanism for recovering public money from an officer held responsible for its loss or improper payment, the Auditor General is to conduct a forensic audit and begin recovery proceedings over the D10,000 honorarium Mr. Bensouda received in 2018. He admitted it was outside the approved budget and that he never refunded it.
About Talib Bensouda’s fitness for office, the government puts forward “a formal record of oversight obligation failures and negligence” against Mr. Bensouda as the Council’s political head.
It refers the matter to the Council to initiate his removal for misconduct or abuse of office under section 20(1) of the Local Government Act, 2002, as amended.
Talib is also liable for improper behavior and negligence, according to the government. The government says his own admissions “reveal serious governance failures and weak compliance” and that his handwritten approvals facilitated payments.
Legislative review. The Commission’s recommendation is accepted. The White Paper directs the Ministry of Lands and Regional Government to fast-track a review of the Local Government Act and the Local Government Finance and Audit Act. It also says many failures arose “not from the absence of sufficient legal provisions but from weak compliance.”
Why the defense did not convince
Mr. Bensouda told the Commission his role was political and supervisory and that the Chief Executive Officer, as statutory Accounting Officer, was responsible for finances. The government said this did not fit the documents.
The Commission was shown vouchers and procurement papers carrying Talib Bensouda’s handwritten notes where he says: “CEO, pay,” “approved,” “OK” and “support with X amount.” Mayor Bensouda said these endorsed “activities,” not money, though he conceded they may have helped payments go through.
The Commission found they amounted to irregular authorizations of expenditure. The government said his testimony itself “established” executive influence capable of causing irregular commitments.
Mayor Bensouda’s explanation of the staffing issues also weakened under questioning. He accepted that he knew Isatou Faal and Nuru Deen Adams, who had worked for him before he became Mayor.
The Commission showed him an application letter and an appointment letter for Ms. Faal, both dated 7 June 2018. It also showed General Council minutes of 28 June 2018 appointing her PRO on grade 10.1.
He later accepted the appointments were wrong, saying a politician needs people he “knows” and “trusts.” The Commission found indirect interference in recruitment that amounted to abuse of office.
On the 19 Mbalit compactor trucks, he admitted the contract was poorly drafted, that legal advice came only after signing, and that import-duty waivers were wrongly assumed. That cost D13.1 million unplanned.
The Commission put the contract at D105 million. On revenue, he acknowledged allegations of unbanked collections and deleted records but admitted that many of his referrals produced no reports, discipline, or recoveries.
He blamed strained relations with the CEO. He also conceded that some audit reports, notably for 2020, may never have been debated by the General Council.
He had argued that the Financial Manual’s requirement for the CEO to seek the Mayor’s clearance conflicted with the Local Government Act, so the Council resolved to operate differently. He has also said the manual is only a guideline and pointed to a September 2018 letter from mayors asking for amendments to the Act.
The Government’s view that weak compliance, not weak law, was the problem cuts against that argument.
The White Paper also records testimony from former CEO Sainabou Martin Sonko. She said virtually all approvals, whatever their value, were escalated to the Mayor, and that she acted on his instructions in some payments.
That is her evidence as the White Paper recounts it, and Mr. Bensouda has not been reported as responding to it.
A pothole on the campaign trail
The timing is awkward for Mr. Bensouda. He is Coalition 2026’s presidential candidate in the 5 December election, and he has campaigned on public office as service rather than a route to personal enrichment and on “accountable leadership.”
He has already tried to get ahead of the report. He has said that nothing in it stops him from contesting and argued that authorities would have prosecuted him by now if there were evidence of corruption. He has also accused the Government of setting up the Commission to destroy his political career.
The White Paper does not purport to bar his candidacy. It refers his fitness for the mayoral office to the Council.
But the findings, which rest largely on his own admissions, hand his opponents a ready line against a candidate who promises good governance. They also give his supporters room to say the process is political, which is why the next steps matter.
None of the criminal or recovery steps has yet produced a charge or a recovery order. The police investigation, the Auditor General’s forensic audit, and any Council move on section 20(1) must each run their course. Mayor Bensouda will be entitled to answer each of them.
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