The former Finance Director of the Banjul City Council (BCC), Momodou Camara, has revealed the behind-the-scenes fallout that led to his removal from financial oversight roles in the CityLink Ostend-Banjul Partnership Project, a £3.1 million EU-funded initiative, alleging institutional sidelining, financial irregularities, and disregard for internal accountability systems.
Appearing before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, Camara testified that he was unceremoniously excluded from the project’s steering committee, denied access to meetings, and blocked from signing cheques—moves he said were made without formal procedure or justification.
Camara said he refused to sign a D900,000 cheque demanding supporting documents. The money was referred to as visibility funds. Camara said the amount was huge and he wanted to ensure that they follow due process. Eventually, he said it was one of the reasons for removing him for the project’s Steering Committee.
“It all started on the 8th of February 2022,” Camara told the commission. “They wrote to me a memo to say, refuse to sign project cheques. That’s the memo here from the CEO—very pleasing. And I also responded on that same day.”
The Commission admitted into evidence three memos from that day: one from BCC Chief Executive Officer Mustapha Batchilly; Camara’s written response defending his stance; and a follow-up memo from the CEO rejecting Camara’s position. These were marked as exhibits.
Camara, who also chaired the project’s finance and procurement subcommittee, said he had been following a standing resolution that required subcommittee vetting before cheques could be signed.
“I wish to refer to you a resolution of the steering committee meetings and minutes that I, as chairman of the finance and procurement subcommittee, must never sign any cheques until when the said committee sits and vet them,” he wrote in his reply memo. “This is my position till a new resolution replaces it—for probity, efficiency, and attainment of project goals.”
But CEO Batchilly fired back in a second memo, accusing Camara of being “illogical.” “As you have rightly mentioned, in the absence of any resolution to be passed by the general council relating to the downsizing of the present project steering committee makes you still eligible to sign the cheques pending an official instruction to hand over to the finance manager,” the CEO wrote.
When asked whether the impasse was ever resolved, Camara replied: “It’s not resolved to this day. I never signed. I never go to meetings. I never get paid. I’m not involved. And they carry on doing their things.”
A critical part of Camara’s testimony centered on the visibility subcomponent of the project, which allegedly had a budget of D900,000. This component was meant to support public awareness, branding, communication, and stakeholder engagement efforts tied to the CityLink Ostend-Banjul Partnership.
“When the committee was disbanded, the visibility unit, with all its structures and deliverables, disappeared,” Camara said. “That was a subcomponent with D900,000. Ask them what became of the visibility unit. They can’t tell you.”
He noted that the visibility team included staff from the BCC’s communication office and external consultants. However, once the steering and subcommittees were shut down, no explanation was given about the status of the visibility funds or deliverables.
“You can’t have a D900,000 component disappear in thin air without traceability,” Camara emphasized. “That’s taxpayers’ money. That’s project money. That’s public money.”
Camara said he was never officially removed from his position in the project through a council resolution or official termination notice.
“There is no letter that says, ‘Mr Camara, you are not part of the project.’ That letter never came,” he said. “Nobody has said I was removed. Nobody has said I was no longer the signatory. Yet, they stopped me from signing and replaced me.”
According to Camara, the project initially operated under strong internal controls after he helped revive a dormant steering committee that had been inactive for over a year.
“When I came, for a year this project was going without a steering committee,” he said. “But when I joined, I said no—we have to get a steering committee.”
The committee then set up four active subcommittees—finance and procurement, visibility, greening, and monitoring. Camara chaired the finance arm. “We were doing the project well and doing our job. Things went well. We even had a retreat,” he said.
The council organized a two-day retreat at Kotu Strand, facilitated by Ibu Keita, a procurement expert. “Ibu came, and then all the standards went to the media, and people responded,” Camara recalled. “We were able to go into a classroom session in the lead of the procurement. That retreat helped us get the best ever ranking of procurement for the project.”
But things changed after Keita left. “I told him, look, the SPU [Specialist Procurement Unit] has always been struggling to survive in Banjul City Council. I am new. You are new. Let’s soldier on it. But if you go out, it could spell doom for not only the project but by extension Banjul City Council.”
Following Keta’s exit, Camara said the steering committee was quietly disbanded. “Their team went to work. And now we are where we are,” he said, referring to the present crisis and ongoing investigation.
Camara said after his removal, all project expenditures were approved and signed by the CEO and the finance manager, despite legal requirements under the Local Government Finance and Audit Act that mandate three signatories—Director of Finance, CEO, and Director of Administration in the absence of the CEO—for project accounts.
“All expenditures of the project are signed by the CEO and the finance director,” he said. “That’s not doing justice to the subject matter.”
He added: “You should ask the CEO how they do it. For me, once this letter [memo] came, I never saw cheques again. I never got called to meetings. I never got paid. I wasn’t involved.”
Camara disclosed that following his exclusion, he never received sitting allowances for any project meetings or activities. “From the time they told me not to sign, I never received a single butut from the project,” he said.
He stressed that even as chairman of the finance and procurement subcommittee, he was denied all rights and privileges. “You create a committee, then uncreate it with no document. And you say you are running a project. That is not acceptable.”
The CityLink Ostend-Banjul project, funded under the EU’s Local Authorities Partnership program, was valued at £3.1 million and jointly implemented by BCC and the City of Ostend. Camara said the council maintained four project accounts—two at Basic Bank (including one euro account), one at Trust Bank, and another at Ecobank—all under BCC’s control.
“None of these banks wrote to say, ‘You are no longer a signatory,’” he said, adding that the finance manager’s rise to signatory status lacked legal basis.
