By Yankuba Jallow
Sainabou Martin-Sonko, the former Chief Executive Officer of Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), appeared before the commission investigating local government councils on Thursday, providing extensive testimony on her tenure from March 2020 to July 2021. The commission, chaired by Jainaba Bah, is mandated to examine financial and administrative practices between May 2018 and January 2023 to enhance transparency and accountability.
Mayor Bensouda had previously testified that he is not involved in administrative matters, particularly with respect to approving payments.
Martin-Sonko, questioned by Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez, described the daily interaction between her office and the Mayor, emphasizing that no council activity could proceed without the Mayor’s explicit approval.
“As the CEO of the council, you are required to report to the office of the Mayor every morning to have early morning briefings with him. During those briefings, that is when the activities to be carried out are discussed. For example, if there is supposed to be an approval of payment for a certain activity to be carried out in the municipality, it is discussed. As CEO, you have no will of your own to go on and approve any activity without the Mayor being aware of it,” she testified.
She recounted a dispute over revenue collection between KMC and the neighboring Brimama Area Council.
“We were called, I think, into the Mayor’s office, the CEO, the Director of Finance, and some of the management teams were there. The council has learned that the Brikama Area Council collectors do encroach on the KMC borders around Kololi and Bundung. I offered my advice to the Mayor that let the council allow me to go and consult with the CEO of the Brikama Area Council. He told me that that wouldn’t be necessary because if we do that, that means we are giving in to the chairman of the Brikama Area Council.”
The disagreement escalated, leading to a formal letter sent on her behalf to the Brikama Area Council, without her knowledge, which sparked anger and necessitated a ministry-led meeting involving local chiefs and council officials to resolve the border dispute.
Martin-Sonko also elaborated on her involvement in the establishment of the Kanifing Municipal Transport (KMT) company. It was the decision of the council to establish the company to engage in municipal transportation.
“As the CEO, naturally I became a board member automatically. I attended all the meetings of the formation. One of the earliest activities that I got involved with at the council was the KMT, the setting up of the municipal bus transport because when I reported to work as CEO, I think the following week or so, the bid opening for the tenders of the municipal bus transport was done. So, that was the first contracts committee meeting that I chaired.”
However, she said the council did not seek advice from the central government or Ministry of Finance regarding the setup of the company, nor were proper procedures followed in securing bank guarantees for welfare association loans. Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez made references to the law requiring the approval of the finance ministry for such initiatives.
A central point of the testimony revolved around payments to contractors, notably General Procurement Services Limited. Martin-Sonko recounted being instructed by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor (Musa Bah) to effect immediate payments totaling nearly half a million dollars for work allegedly unfinished or substandard. “Because when I reported to work, a list was given to me, a list of contractors inside the office of the Mayor. Kanjura Kanyi was in the mayor’s office and I was also asked to go and answer to the mayor. They wanted me to effect those payments with immediate effect. Immediately, I assumed my responsibilities as CEO.”
She confirmed authorizing several payments, specifying amounts and dates: “The first is dated the 19th of November, 2019 – the sum total on this voucher is D326,544. The second voucher is dated the 16th of July, 2020 and the sum is D222,937. The third voucher – the sum is D370,984. And the final invoice – the sum of D381,720.” The four were admitted together in evidence as an exhibit.
Martin-Sonko gave evidence about challenges with project mismanagement, including the Serekunda Market cold storage project and payments for trucks under a municipal bus program. She described deviations from project budgets and unauthorized uses of council funds: “The project was supposed to have its own budget of expenditures and revenues. The project was not performing and could not meet up its liability repayment at the bank, so the accounts, the council accounts were frozen at the bank. So that forced them to begin to budget for the repayment of the “Mbalit” trucks repayment. They budgeted about 40 million dalasi per annum.”
She also highlighted disputes involving individual contractors and the misallocation of funds. Alu Kora, for instance, received 3.5 million Dalasis for a pavement project, but the work was incomplete and payments were made using fraudulent invoices. “He was not even the rightful owner of that business. He used somebody’s business documents, invoices to be paid those monies,” she stated.
On the recovery of debts owed to the council by external entities, Martin-Sonko emphasized her role over that of a consultant, Kanjura Kanyi.
She contradicted the testimony of the mayor, who claimed that Kanjura Kanyi helped to recover money from the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC).
“Kanjura Kanyi possessed no managerial skills, negotiation skills, to be able to have that breakthrough with NAWEC. That was through my sincere effort.” She further stressed that the commission should examine evidence rather than rely on claims of past recovery work by Mr. Kanjura.
Her testimony also detailed limits to CEO discretion, particularly regarding staff welfare, medical emergencies, and council loans.
“Before Councilor Habib’s case came up, we had a staff [member] called Sira Konate. Sira’s son underwent an operation. There was nothing that we could do. What I did was, I had to refer her to the welfare association to see if there was any way that they could help Sira.”
As the session concluded, the commission noted the complexity of issues raised and the need to recall multiple former officials for clarification, including Kanjura Kanyi, Deputy Mayor Pa Musa Bah, and Dr. Alieu Keita as well as Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda. Martin-Sonko was discharged but is expected to return to provide further insights on Monday.
