By Makutu Manneh
Musa Bah, a former deputy mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) during his appearance before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry last week, provided a detailed testimony of how KMC abandoned investigating allegations of bribery against him.
During question and answer session between him and Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez, former deputy mayor Musa Bah discussed the issue of former Chief Executive Officer Sainabou Martin-Martin-Sonko, who also had similar allegations against her.
Musa Bah was first elected in 2018 as a councillor and after his first tenure, he was reelected in 2023 to serve again for another term. He was the Deputy Mayor of the KMC from 2018 to 2021, when he left.
“Why do you leave?” Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez asked.
“At the time I had a lot of bereavements. My mum passed away, my uncle and other relatives. It was like too much of a burden on me. I decided to reduce the load from me to concentrate on my ward councillor vision,” the former deputy mayor said.
“Is there any other reason why you resigned?” Lead Counsel Gomez asked.
“That was the only reason,” the witness answered.
He testified that he resigned voluntarily and the decision to resign was accepted by the Council.
“Did you resign as a councillor at any point?” Counsel Gomez asked.
“No,” Bah answered.
“Why is that?” Gomez asked.
“Like I said, I was devastated at the time so I decided to offload myself and to continue to mourn my mother,” Musa Bah answered.
Lead Counsel Gomez asked the witness to state
the duties of a deputy mayor that he believed were tedious at the time to warrant him to resign as a deputy mayor and then continue as a councillor. Musa Bah said a deputy mayor has a lot of responsibilities and is required to report to office daily whereas a councillor is required to attend meetings of committees and general council meetings.
“Plus on my side, I sticked to the purpose of me being there. I am elected and the burden… I did not have much time with my constituent that much. After relieving or offloading myself, I was able to be so connected and deliver – give development to my people,” he said.
“When did you realise this? That serving as a deputy mayor and a councillor is so tedious and that you cannot do it,” Counsel Gomez asked.
Musa Bah said it was not part of his plans to be a deputy mayor. He added that he was nominated and the councillors unanimously elected him.
Lead Counsel Gomez repeated the question to the witness.
“I decided to reduce the burden or load on me to at least have the tranquility for a while. I cannot hold it [the position] and let the council at a ransom. That is the very reason why I decided to forego my deputy mayor position and stick to my councillor issue,” he said.
Bah explained that during that time, there was an audio circulating online in which he allegedly sought bribes from Eco-Tech Company. That was the same company the KMC contracted to provide them digital revenue collection devices. He said at the time of the online scandal, he was already mourning his mother. He added that he tuned in a radio and listened to the CEO of Eco-Tech, who said the audio has nothing to do with his company
He said one of the reasons for resigning was to “wait until the allegations are cleared,” because it happened at the same time with his mother’s demise.
“The allegations coincided with my mother’s demise,” he said.
He said he resigned to allow due process to follow. He added that an emergency general meeting of the council was convened to discuss the matter. He testified that an investigative committee was constituted to look into the matter.
“As soon as they started, it was aborted,” he said.
The reason he gave was that the Ministry of Regional Government also began investigating it and the one sanctioned by the general council of the KMC stopped. The witness said the Government setup a commission to investigate the councils, but councils challenged that establishment in court and it was declared unlawful. He added that the Ministry sent investigators at the KMC, who were there for about 2 months. He testified that a report was generated by the investigators.
“Did that report address the allegations concerning you?” Lead Counsel Gomez asked.
“It didn’t state anything concerning me,” the witness answered.
“Did they call you as a witness or someone they are going to ask questions regarding the allegation of bribery?” Gomez asked.
“Not me directly, but I believe the CEO Eco-Tech was called,” he answered.
“The bottom line is at the Council level there was no investigation into your issue,” Lead Counsel Gomez said.
“Well, it started. I was once invited by the committee in charge,” former deputy mayor Bah said.
Lead Counsel Gomez asked the former deputy mayor whether in his opinion the Council should have continued with the investigation or stopped it.
“Well, I am not an expert in investigation. Not to my knowledge. I have no idea,” the former deputy mayor replied.
Lead Counsel Gomez reminded the witness that he was a deputy and has understanding of local governance. He reminded him further of a similar incident involving former CEO Sainabou Martin, who was suspended on allegations of receiving a D30,000 bribe from a real estate dealer.
“Regardless of the investigation by the Ministry, Sainabou Martin and Co were suspended by the Council. You recall this?” Lead Counsel Gomez asked.
“Yes,” former deputy mayor Bah answered.
“But yours was not like that. They did not do the same for you. Theirs continued regardless of the investigation [by the Ministry],” Lead Counsel Gomez told the witness.
The witness was silent and did not answer.
“Do you think that is proper?” Lead Counsel Gomez asked.
“Well, hmmm, I can’t tell whether it is proper or not,” the former deputy mayor said.
After several questions, the former deputy mayor said “Everybody should be treated equally.”
“Does that appear to be equal treatment?” Gomez asked.
“Well, I can’t tell,” Musa Bah replied.
“I am not talking about your guilt or innocence. I am attacking the process to shed more light on it,” the witness answered.
The witness testified Sainabou Martin was suspended on allegation she received D30,000 bribe despite the Ministry’s investigation or inquiry. He said the Council took position despite the Ministry was taking steps to investigate the issue and the KMC still went ahead and suspended her. He also admitted that in his case, which is also about allegation of bribery, the KMC did not take position.
“Someone may say it is about trying to protect someone and sacrifice another,” Lead Counsel Gomez said
The former deputy mayor said he was not favoured or protected. He explained that he was confronted by the Mayor regarding the voice (subject of allegation), but he informed the mayor that the person speaking in that audio was not him.
“Regardless of your innocence or guilt, there should have been the same process. Interestingly, the two separate cases have to do with allegations of bribery and fraudulent malpractices. [They are] very similar cases. On one hand, the case of former CEO Sainabou Martin took a different step. [The] Council decided Sainabou Martin and Co would be suspended. I am not even talking about the legality of that process. With the issue of the deputy mayor, we don’t even have an investigation report. Council did not decide to suspend deputy mayor or not. Don’t you think they should have both had the same treatment?” Lead Counsel Gomez asked.
The witness said that people should be treated the same manner. He admitted the treatments in the two cases were different.
“You and I agree that people should be treated the same,” Lead Counsel Gomez said.
“Of course,” the former deputy mayor answered.
“But that did not happen in this case,” Gomez said.
“Well, hmmm, I don’t think so,” the witness answered.
Musa Bah is the councillor for Latrikunda Yiringanya
The statement of the witness dated 18 July 2023 and the additional statement dated 19 September 2024 were admitted in evidence. Bah is the chairman of the “Mbalit” Project of the KMC. He is also a member of the Contracts Committee. He stated that he served as ex-officio member of the Accounts Committee and the Market Committee.
