By Binta Jaiteh
Local human rights advocate Kassim Fadera has accused the ex-CEO of Mansakonko Area Council Seedy Touray of corruption.
According to Federa, former CEO Touray has been involved in many dubious and corrupt activities, leading to his transfer to the Brikama Area Council.
He accused Touray of dismantling their public tap on Angal Futa Street in Mansakonko.
“The area has now been allocated to a businessman to build a shop and as we speak, construction is currently ongoing,” he explained.
He described the council’s decision to allocate the area for the construction of a shop as unfair as, in his words,the decision will harm the interest of the community.
“I am a local human rights advocate in the region,whose primary role is to fight against corruption and other abuse of office by public officials,” he asserted
Fadera disclosed that some concerned citizens of the area wrote a letter to the council, requesting the reopening of the street tap but the council “blatantly”ignored the letter.
He expressed disappointment over the issue because the people around the area, he lamented, have beensuffering due to water shortage.
“It is evident that water and sanitation are both basic human rights, and we cannot live without them,” he asserted
“We went to NAWEC to make an arrangement in order to pay the water bills and NAWEC has approved our request but the council failed to cooperate with the community, which is an injustice to the people. The street tap was in existence since the first regime and the people around the area benefited a lot,” added Fadera.
“I believe that corruption was the driving force behind the dismantling of the public tap by Touray and illegally allocating the area to an individual for business. Local governments are established to provide services to the people but not to serve individual interests against the masses. The government should respect the plight of taxpayers,” he contended.
He added that the street tap was disconnected by NAWEC due to the council’s failure to pay bills.
When contacted, Mr. Touray denied the allegation, challenging Fadera to provide evidence regarding the matter as, according to him, he can’t remember allocating any area to any businessman.
“I left the council three months ago,” he told this reporter.
