Aziz Bensouda Accuses Government of Distorting Commission Findings to Undermine Talib’s Candidacy

By Fatou Sillah

Abdul Aziz Bensouda, Secretary for Legal and Constitutional Affairs of UNITE Party, has accused the government of misrepresenting the findings of the Local Government Commission of Inquiry in its White Paper, alleging that the document was deliberately presented to cast doubt on Coalition 2026 presidential candidate Talib Ahmed Bensouda’s eligibility to contest the December 5 election.

Speaking at a UNITE press conference, Mr. Bensouda said the party had carefully reviewed both the commission’s report and the government’s White Paper and identified what he described as serious discrepancies between the commission’s actual findings and the government’s interpretation of them.

He alleged that the White Paper was designed to mislead the public and potentially influence the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) into disqualifying the Kanifing Municipal Council mayor from the presidential race.

“In every section of findings, there are no adverse findings against Mayor Bensouda that would affect him under Section 62(3)(c),” he said.

Mr. Bensouda argued that the government had failed to distinguish between the commission’s findings and its recommendations, particularly those relating to alleged economic crimes and proposals to review the mayor’s fitness to hold public office.

He maintained that recommendations for further investigation or administrative action should not be presented as established findings of personal wrongdoing.

The UNITE legal affairs secretary also questioned the timing of the White Paper’s publication, noting that it was released approximately one week before the presidential nomination process.

He called on President Adama Barrow to explain why the government chose to publish the document at such a politically sensitive time and why its conclusions appeared to differ from those contained in the commission’s report.

According to Mr. Bensouda, the party has formally written to the IEC outlining its legal position and intends to make the correspondence, along with relevant sections of the commission’s report, available to the public.

Addressing the substance of the inquiry, he acknowledged that the commission had examined Mayor Bensouda’s influence over council operations, his oversight responsibilities, and disagreements concerning the respective roles of the mayor and the council’s chief executive officer.

However, he insisted that those discussions did not amount to findings that the mayor was personally liable for financial irregularities or guilty of misconduct.

Mr. Bensouda maintained that the commission’s report contained no findings capable of triggering the constitutional provisions governing disqualification from the presidency.

He further argued that the Coalition 2026 candidate satisfied the constitutional requirements for presidential office, including citizenship, age, educational qualifications, and residency.

According to him, Mayor Bensouda has neither been convicted of a criminal offence nor been found personally liable by a commission of inquiry for negligence, improper behavior, misconduct or corruption in a manner that would disqualify him from contesting the election.

“The matter is not ambiguous; the matter is clear and simple,” he said.

Mr. Bensouda emphasized that UNITE would reject any attempt to interpret the commission’s report or the government’s White Paper as grounds for declaring its presidential candidate constitutionally ineligible.

He maintained that the IEC must assess Mr. Bensouda’s nomination strictly in accordance with the Constitution and applicable electoral laws, rather than relying on what the party considers a politically motivated interpretation of the inquiry’s findings.

The allegations reflect UNITE’s interpretation of the commission’s report and the constitutional requirements for presidential eligibility. The party’s position does not, by itself, constitute a binding legal determination of Mr. Bensouda’s eligibility.

The government and the IEC have not provided responses to the allegations in the information available for this report.