The former Chief Executive Officer of Banjul City Council (BCC), Mustapha Batchilly, has told the Local Government Commission of Inquiry that the controversial procurement of waste bins from Dembas’s Trading did not follow due process and was directly influenced by Mayor Rohey Malick Lowe. Testifying on his second appearance before the Commission, Batchilly said the Mayor made the decision to purchase 60 bins on wheels valued at D600,000 from Dembas’s Trading without the involvement or approval of the Contracts Committee, a clear violation of public procurement regulations.
According to Batchilly, not only did the procurement bypass the required procedures, but the supplier, Dembas’s Trading, only delivered 10 bins while receiving full payment for 60. “The decision was made by the Mayor,” Batchilly declared, adding, “I am made to believe that he only delivered 10 but we paid him for 60.” When asked whether the Mayor was aware of the discrepancy, the former CEO replied that she was indeed informed but took no action to recover the balance or hold the supplier accountable. He also agreed that the Mayor’s conduct was wrong and contravened the GPPA Act.
This revelation sparked further concerns from the Commission, with Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez emphasizing the implications of the illegal transaction on public accountability and procurement integrity.
One of the other major revelations came from the Banjul-Ostend Project. Batchilly admitted that a sum of D496,000 was paid to the project team during the Tobaski feast despite the fact that the payment was not part of the approved budget. Auditors flagged the payment as suspicious and suspected it to be fraudulent. In his defense, Batchilly said the money was meant to compensate the team for extra work performed after the expiry of the EU-funded project. He admitted that the payment was not budgeted for and acknowledged it was unlawful. “I accept that it was not lawful,” he said, adding that the decision was approved by the EU project coordinator.
In another instance of questionable expenditure, auditors uncovered that three companies—Njabot, SM Bayo, and Gam Engineering—were each paid for what appeared to be the same design work for the Crab Island Facility. Lead Counsel Gomez questioned how three entities could receive payment for a single job. “Looking at our procurement rules, this is totally unacceptable,” Batchilly conceded. He attributed the lapse to a lack of understanding of the EU’s PRAG procurement rules. While management had claimed there were agreements with all three companies, Batchilly refuted this and distanced himself from the management response, describing the multiple payments as wrong and confirming that two of the payments should be recovered.
The Commission also examined a contract signed in 2021 between BCC and Eco Firm Ecology Construction for the rehabilitation of the Crab Island Facility. The contract was worth D8 million, yet Eco Firm ended up receiving D9.1 million—an overpayment of more than five hundred thousand. The Commission requested Batchilly to produce the signed contract, suggesting that payments exceeded agreed terms. Batchilly did not dispute the overpayment but offered no clear explanation, admitting that the process should have been better monitored.
On the procurement of dustbins from Kebba and Sons, Batchilly initially denied prior knowledge of the company’s relationship with the Mayor. However, under pressure from Counsel Gomez, he admitted that he later came to learn that the proprietor was a long-time family member of the Mayor and even stayed in her residence. Gomez alleged that Kebba and Sons received special treatment due to this relationship, despite lacking qualifications and experience. Batchilly replied, “I won’t deny that.” The witness noted that Kebba and Sons charged D4,000 per bin and that although the procurement was approved by the GPPA, the Council expected the agency to provide better guidance.
The issue of procurement irregularities extended to legal services as well. Batchilly acknowledged that Mayor Lowe “headhunted” a lawyer, Sasum Sillah, and placed her on retainership without subjecting the process to competition as required by procurement law. “Every Mayor who comes would headhunt a lawyer,” he explained, but agreed with Gomez that this violated GPPA regulations, which require at least three law firms to be considered in order to ensure value for money. “No. The reality is that it should not be done that way,” he said when asked if it was appropriate for a Mayor to single-handedly appoint legal counsel. He said Counsel Sillah is a relative to Mayor Lowe.
Further scrutiny was placed on the controversial appointment of Makumba Sanneh, the Mayor’s former campaign manager, who was made Council Adviser and later served as a consultant and market overseer. Batchilly stated that Sanneh lacked both the academic qualifications and the experience required for those positions. “I agree with you 100% that he is not qualified,” he told Gomez. Sanneh, who received a monthly salary of D28,000, was also accused of issuing illegal, unsigned invoices in collusion with Acting License Manager Pa Modou Ndow. The invoices, some of which were presented to Batchilly during the hearing, were not authorized by the Director of Finance.
A memo dated 10 January 2024 from Director of Finance Momodou Camara warned against the illegal issuance of revenue documents and accused Batchilly’s office of complicity. The memo said invoice books were acquired and circulated without the Finance Department’s knowledge or approval, violating the Financial and Accounting Manual for Local Government Authorities. Camara urged Batchilly to stop the unauthorized practices immediately and respect the oversight of the Finance Department.
In response, Batchilly said he did not recall replying to the memo but attributed the situation to a 2022 financial crisis when BCC failed to pay salaries for two consecutive months. He said that in an effort to boost revenue, heads of units were asked to take control of revenue collection using printed receipts and invoice books. He denied acting illegally and said the plan was made necessary after a contract signed with a private revenue collection firm—introduced by Camara himself—was terminated due to poor performance.
Throughout his testimony, Batchilly painted a picture of an institution in which the political branch, led by the Mayor, routinely overruled the administrative leadership, compromising due process and accountability. “The administrative branch of the council [headed by the CEO] always dances to the tune of the political branch [headed by the Mayor],” he lamented.
Asked why he never resisted or reported the unlawful decisions, Batchilly claimed he had been “victimized for standing for something right,” but when pressed to provide examples, he could not cite specific incidents, only stating that he had been marginalized by the Ministry.
The Commission continues to hear testimonies as it investigates the financial and administrative operations of local government councils from May 2018 to January 2023, with the aim of promoting transparency, restoring public trust, and holding accountable those responsible for mismanagement and abuse of office.
