By: Fatou Krubally
Former Finance Director of Banjul City Council (BCC), Momodou Camara, has accused Mayor Rohey Malick Lowe of overstepping her authority by dissolving the Ostend-Banjul project’s steering committee without the council’s approval.
Camara made the accusation on Monday while testifying before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, probing alleged financial mismanagement in local councils. He told the commission that the mayor unilaterally dissolved the committee in 2021, effectively undermining the administrative structure that had been put in place for oversight of the D3 million urban development project.
“I don’t think she had the right to do that,” Camara said when asked about the legality of the mayor’s decision, adding that the move appeared to be retaliatory, after he refused to approve a D900,000 cheque for project visibility activities, which, he believed, was questionable.
The Ostend-Banjul project steering committee was created to oversee infrastructure and development initiatives funded through a grant from the city. However, Camara revealed that the committee itself engaged in irregular financial practices, including issuing undocumented loans to its members. He confirmed that over D300,000 was shared among committee members during the Christmas and Tobaski periods, disbursements he admitted were “not lawful.”
When lead counsel Patrick Gomez questioned why the money was not recovered, Camara responded that the loans were not repaid and that no official instruction was given to him to pursue repayment once the mayor dissolved the committee. “What do you want me to do? I’m not the mayor. She is the boss,” he said.
The lead counsel accused the council of deliberately excluding professional staff from key financial decisions, noting that Camara himself was sidelined from the selection process of committee members. He said this reflected a broader pattern of poor governance and favouritism.
The commission heard that the project’s procurement process was riddled with irregularities, with most contracts awarded through single sourcing. Camara admitted that these practices were contrary to procurement rules and failed to uphold principles of transparency and accountability.
“What you say is what I say,” Camara told the lead counsel when confronted with the overall assessment of failure in the management of the project.
The inquiry into BCC’s operations is ongoing, with more witnesses expected to testify in the coming days.