By Nicholas Bass
The National Assembly Member (NAM) for Serrekunda West, Madi Ceesay, has said he held different views with his colleague NAM Yaya Menteng Sanyang on the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, saying the commission will serve as a deterrent to mismanagement of public money.
It could be recalled that legislator Sanyang late last week opined to this medium that the Local Government Commission of Inquiry was a well-calculated move to damage the reputation of the councils and to make it difficult for them to attract funding for development.
Sanyang advised the Barrow government to dissolve the commission, stressing that it is costly, time-consuming, disruptive, and utterly unnecessary.
”It also posed the risk of centralizing power and politicizing the investigation of the councils,” he decried.
However, according to legislator Madi Ceesay, President Barrow has the constitutional prerogative to set up the Local Government Commission of Inquiry to look into the financial dealings of local governments.
He expressed optimism that the commission will serve as a deterrent to and a strong signal against financial mismanagement.
NAM Ceesay pointed out that councils’ funds are taxpayers’ monies, noting that there should be checks and balances in the councils.
He expressed the conviction that the commission will serve as a strong signal against mismanagement of public funds as the TRRC will deter the current government from trampling on peoples’ rights.
“Therefore, I beg to defer to my colleague’s (Yahya Menteng) opinion because we should not allow people to squander public funds and go scot-free. There must be transparency and accountability,” he underscored.