By Makutu Manneh
The Brikama Area Council on Thursday disbursed D1 million to each of its 28 wards to support community development initiatives across the West Coast Region, marking the latest phase of its Ward Development Fund program.
The allocation follows a steady increase in funding over the past two years. In 2024, the council provided D500,000 to each ward, financing the construction of 22 boreholes, eight market sheds serving nine communities, and the connection of three communities to the national electricity grid. Last year, the council doubled the allocation to D1 million per ward, disbursing a total of D28 million and funding 20 additional boreholes to expand access to clean water.
Speaking at the ceremony, Yankuba Darboe, chairman of the Brikama Area Council, cited rapid population growth in the West Coast Region as a key factor behind the initiative. He pointed to mounting challenges, including waste management, overcrowding, inadequate infrastructure, and environmental degradation, as pressures confronting local authorities.
To address those issues, Mr. Darboe said, the council established the Ward Development Fund to ensure that each ward undertakes at least one development project annually. The initiative relies on Ward Development Committees, which he described as best positioned to identify and prioritize the needs of their communities.
“This decentralized and participatory approach ensures that communities are directly involved in the decision-making, execution, and maintenance of their projects,” he said.
He added that the model is designed to promote local ownership and long-term sustainability while guaranteeing that each ward receives an equitable share of the council’s limited resources and internally generated revenue.
Mr. Darboe emphasized that the funds are derived from local tax collections rather than external grants or donor support.
“None of this could have been possible without your support to this council in paying your taxes and paying them on time. It could not have also been possible without us having dedicated and committed ourselves to fighting and ending corruption at this council,” he stated.
Reflecting on the administration’s early days in office, Mr. Darboe said that when council leaders assumed their roles on June 1, 2023, they inherited an institution burdened by significant debt. The council, he said, was operating with a deficit of 10 million dalasis and owed multiple financial institutions and other entities.
“The institution was running on a deficit of 10 million dalasis with the banks, not to mention other entities and its liabilities.”
Between 2019 and 2022, he said, the council was so financially constrained that it relied on a private construction company to procure utility meters from the National Water and Electricity Company.
Describing corruption as a “cancer” that had undermined the council’s operations, Mr. Darboe said his administration had confronted the problem directly and worked to restore financial discipline, laying the groundwork for expanded development spending at the ward level.
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