The former Finance Director of the Banjul City Council (BCC), Momodou Camara
By Fatou Sillah
The former Finance Director of the Banjul City Council (BCC), Momodou Camara, has testified before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, accusing Mayor Rohey Malick Lowe of overstepping her mandate and consolidating power across multiple administrative functions within the council.
Camara claimed that Mayor Lowe effectively assumed the roles of CEO, procurement manager, and even finance director, rendering the actual Chief Executive Officer unable to function independently.
“For me the time I have being with them, three years, with my CEO, he is not Independent, he cannot take decisions, he has not done the Job judiciously and honestly to the portfolio that was given to him. Even if you asked for a toiletry, the CEO must get approval from the Mayor. For me, she is the Mayor, she is the CEO, she is also the procurement manager. She also wants to be the director of finance. I said no,” He Said.
He further alleged that Mayor Lowe bypassed formal financial procedures by independently visiting banks to negotiate overdraft facilities for the council.
“The Mayor will go to the bank herself, the Director of Finance will just set, and they will tell him to come and sign an overdraft,” He Said
Lead counsel Patrick Gomez asked the witness, “You are saying In Banjul City Council, The Mayoress Rohey Malick Lowe will go to the Bank by herself and then call you and the CEO to sign documents?”
The witness responded, “I have a tape, because the bank Manager two of them, call me and said come a sign. I said I’m not signing. And they said the mayoress came last evening and negotiated the facility for Banjul City Council. I said that is not how the civilized world operates.”
The lead counsel asked the witness, “Which bank?” The witness responded, BSIC Bank. He went on to say that managers from BSIC Bank called him and asked him to come to the back and sign documents, claiming that the Mayoress was present and had negotiated the facility on behalf of the Banjul City Council. He said he refused, stating, “That is not how things are done in a civilized world.”
The witness also testified that the Council lacked a functional administrative department, noting that the CEO, Mr. Batchilly, typically arrived at the office around 1 p.m. and left before 3 p.m.
Lead counsel Patrick Gomez further asked the witness whether he was part of the steering committee.
“Yes and no I am part of the committee. When I joined the council in 2020 I found the project there. I told the CEO all projects must have a steering committee. and after some consultations he agreed.” the witness clarified.
The witness testified that he was taken to the Banjul Police Station for refusing to hand over the council’s revenue earnings. He stated that after declining to comply, he was subsequently detained.
“I was in my office when 11 officers arrived and said I am under arrest. This is because I refused to hand over the revenue earnings of the council to the CEO Batchilly to hand over to the finance manager,” he said.
“It was tabaski. The steering committee said they want the project to give us 1 by 6. It was qualified by a loan. The committee members were paid allowance monthly. I cannot remember how much unless I refer to the documents,” The Witness Added.
The lead counsel asked, “Was it lawful for committee members to receive loans from a project like this? It’s not the same as BCC issuing loans, which could be legitimate, but this is a project with a temporary financial budget.”
The witness agreed, stating it was not good practice.
The lead counsel then pointed out that everyone was aware of the situation except for Macumba, who seemed to focus on the project due to favoritism. “You were all in a position to know this was wrong,” he remarked.
The lead counsel also inquired whether the money had been recovered.
The witness responded that a month later, the Mayor disbanded the steering committee, though he did not know the reason why.
Finally, the lead counsel asked, “Why didn’t they continue to repay the loan, given that they were still employees of BCC?”
“It was ethically questionable. He agreed that he should have paid the laon,” He Said.
The lead counsel informed the witness that he referred to the Banjul Ostend City Project as a failure and that the procurement process was conducted illegally.
“I agree with what you are saying. I was taken out of the committee, I just wanted to do my job but they thought I was delaying. Before the disbanding of the committee I refused to sign a cheque of nine hundred thousand for visibility. They want to withdraw this money for the advertisement of the project,” The Witness Said.
The lead counsel asked the witness on what grounds they wished to withdraw the money.
The witness responded that he didn’t know, refused to sign the document, and stated that he had not seen any supporting documentation to justify signing it. “later on, they appointed a new committee. I believe they disbanded the committee because I refused to sign the cheque,” he stated.
The witness stated that he was neither notified nor informed that he was excluded from the committee, yet the new members were meeting without his presence. “They wrote to me refusal to sign project cheques. This is a memo from the CEO. I also replied.”
He submitted these memos to the commission, which were tendered and accepted as evidence.
The memo from the CEO stated that the refusal to sign project cheques led to the denial of projects.
In your response, you mentioned that as the chairperson of the steering committee, you could not sign any cheque unless the committee convened and reviewed them.
The lead counsel then asked, “How was this situation resolved?”
The witness replied, “It was not resolved. Additionally, the project has four accounts across three banks.”
“When you were no longer part of the committee how were they withdrawing money,” The lead counsel asked.
“I do not know, the CEO can answer this. I was in the committee for 6 months,” The Witness Said.
The witness also mentioned that 2,268,900 Dalasis was allocated to GIDA trading, and 252,000 Dalasis was paid to BCC for withholding tax to the GRA, bringing the total to 2.5 million Dalasis. “This is a friend to the mayor. This is for personal protective equipment. When this payment landed on my desk, I told the CEO I am not comfortable signing this cheque. The attached paperwork is weak. I told him if he wants me to sign it let him write to me authorizing me to sign it,” the witness stated
He presented the commission with a memo written to him by the CEO, which was admitted into evidence and marked as an exhibit.
He also submitted a separate memo from the Mayor and stated that he had endured significant hardship during his three years of service at the Banjul City Council (BCC).
According to him, the councillors were summoned to the Mayor’s office, where they signed an A4 sheet that was later forwarded to the Ministry as part of the effort to place him on administrative leave. He claimed each councillor received an envelope containing D2,000, except for one who refused to participate.
He further alleged that the CEO had relinquished all his powers, duties, and responsibilities to the Mayor and her adviser, Macumba.
“Are you suggesting that these two were effectively running the council in all respects?” the Lead Counsel asked.
“Yes because the CEO appears physically, but no input, no impact, nothing. The administrative arm of the council is dead, poorly staffed, poorly orientated, poorly managed, poorly exposed. Only Yes and Yes Men in administration headed by the CEO and the total absence of no checks and controls that is desperately needed to balance things and in its absence, lots of power remain and is vested in the politicians they run their chambers and control the administrative arm,” he said.
He added that CEO Batchilly and his team are strict with staff but fail to effectively carry out their own duties and responsibilities.
The witness stated that within the Banjul City Council, the mayor holds significant control over all affairs. She decides who is involved, when actions are taken, how things are done, and what issues are addressed—covering staffing, finances, and other matters. She also determines the agenda for both management and general council meetings.
“She selects who seats at the meetings and where one is stationed and who is in and out of the management team and select committees. Everything that revolves around council both political and administrative wise were decisions that the mayor takes. She is lucky to have a CEO like Batchilly who does not care at all and does not take up his roles and responsibilities as CEO and all powers end up going back to the mayor.
“All the problems of BCC are caused by lack of checks and balances in our roles and responsibility. If where we bank was influenced by the mayor and when and what loans and overdrafts facilities we enter into are decided by her,” He Said.
He said the adviser to the Mayor, Macumba Sanneh, is considered the most feared and influential figure within the council, operating what he described as a regime of intimidation—labeling staff as either pro-mayor or anti-mayor.
“Before I joined the CEO, the bank accounts were opened. We only reduced the number of banks the council was banking with. When I visited BISC bank I was clearly told that before the mayor’s elections she was their very good customer. Trust bank use to be the main bank for BCC but when the mayor assumed office swing towards BISC bank. BISC bank as we speak is BCC’s principal banking partners,” he explained.
Lead Counsel then asked, “As Director of Finance, you had Macumba Sanneh overseeing the License collection?”
“Yes,” he responded.
“How did that come about?” Counsel Gomez followed up.
The witness emphasized that peace is paramount. Upon joining BCC, he inherited the department, its processes, and key personnel. He made a deliberate effort to build strong working relationships with everyone to achieve their shared goals. It was during this time that he found Macumba serving in the council as a revenue overseer.
“What kind of position is that?” the lead counsel inquired.
The witness responded, stating that Macumba is always present. Wherever there is revenue, Macumba is there, serving the mayor’s interests.
The Lead Counsel inquired, “What role does Macumba play in generating revenue? We have evidence, for example, showing that in the license department, he worked with Pa Modou Ndow, the acting manager of the license unit, to issue invoices. We’ve observed significant amounts of money in Macumba’s account.”
The witness responded by stating that the system was flawed, and it would take someone highly dedicated and courageous to fix it. That is precisely what he did, but in doing so, he ended up at a police station.