By: Kebba AF Touray
The Mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), Talib Ahmed Bensouda, has told members of the Finance and Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly (FPAC) that the transfer of officials within Councils is disrupting their services.
Mayor Bensouda said this on Wednesday, 21 February 2024 during their appearance before members of FPAC for the presentation of their activity reports and financial statements for the year 2021 and 2022.
“We just want to register our concerns to the committee. This is the transfer of officers within the Councils without due process and consultation. In the local government act, when transferring officials, you need a recommendation from the Councils’ establishment committees or a consultation with them and you also need the consent of that officer,” Mayor Bensouda said; adding that these officials got employed by a specific Council and as such when they are being transferred, council’s consent should be sought as expressed in the local government act.
“Our Deputy CEO was asked to transfer without his consent and after his refusal, he was terminated and since then, they have transferred another CEO to our Council, and I think due process was not taken in this case,” he said; adding that in the spirit of development and addressing the services of the people, they ought not to reject. However, Mayor Bensouda said the transfer of councils’ officials is disrupting their services.
He told FPAC that they used to do their financial statement with the matrix system and FINEX, but they now use the fully automated IFMIS system and by end of the year, they will not need any such adjustment.
He informed the committee that though the new CEO was present during the meeting with the committee, he was not present during their last meetings as he had just been transferred to KMC then, noting the then Finance Director of the council was transferred to BCC recently.
Earlier, he said the new CEO transferred to the KMC told FPAC that for 2022, the accounts are yet to be audited and that all the documents relating to the 2022 accounts are currently with the Local Government Commission.
“I have been transferred just recently, and our draft financial statement for 2022 is still at the National Audi Office waiting for their input,” he explained.
Hon. Sulayman Jammeh, the Chairperson of the Local Government Committee who is also a member of FPAC, said the concern remains the same, adding that on Wednesday, the Mayor of BCC raised the same concerns on the transfer of officials within the Councils.
“As a committee, we will try to engage the Local Service Commission, so that we can sit together and address some of these issues, because I think is high time we try to regularize the issues, because without this, there will always be a problem, and Councils will never be able to do their service delivery properly,” he said.
