By: Kemo Kanyi
Kebba Njie and Superintendent Samba Saidy, both serving members of the Kanifing Municipal Council’s Police Unit, have accused the leadership of the KMC of nepotism.
They said the commissioner of the Municipal Police Unit and his deputy were appointed without due process been followed.
Saidy and Njie appeared on Tuesday before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, investigating the financial and administrative operations of local governments from May 2018 to January 2023 to enhance transparency and accountability.
The first case of the alleged nepotism cited by the two witnesses was the promotion of one Sainey Sanyang, the current deputy commissioner of the Municipal Police Unit. The second case of nepotism, they claimed, was the appointment of the Commissioner of the Municipal Police Unit, Malamin Ceesay. They also testified about the “maltreatment they were going through at the hands of Malamin Ceesay and the KMC”.
First to testify was Kebba Njie, a resident of Tallinding, who joined the KMC in 1994. He provided seven of his promotional letters from the KMC. He stated that the responsibility of the Municipal Police is mainly to protect the properties of the council.
Counsel Sunkary Camara asked the witness about missing goods in the KMC during the 2022 auction sales. An audit report raised audit queries about missing items that were supposed to be part of the auction sales, but on the day of the exercise, they were allegedly stolen. Njie said the items were not under him as he was posted at the KMC annex. He added that they were at the main office, and he had no idea what happened to the items.
The written statement of the witness dated 2 November 2023 was tendered and admitted in evidence.
Njie explained that Commissioner Malamin Ceesay created a syndicate within the municipal police with the help of the management of the KMC headed at the time by Kajali Janneh, as the deputy chief executive officer.
He said Malamin Ceesay ensured that one Jawo was moved from the Municipal Police Unit to the Compliance Unit because of how he perceived Jawo. He testified that this was when Sainey Sanyang, the lowest-ranked inspector at the time, was promoted from Inspector to Assistant Superintendent.
Njie explained that there is a procedure for how promotions of staff within the municipal police are done, which includes the approval of the Establishment Committee and the Local Government Service Commission. Njie said he, together with Samba Saidy, filed a letter to the Ministry of Regional Government to look into the matter of promotion of SaineySanyang. The letter was dated 6 May 2022.
“The Commissioner (Malamin Ceesay) alone is doing the promotion,” Njie claimed.
He continued that before filing the letter to the Ministry, they had consulted the Establishment Committee of the KMC, who said they were not involved and not aware of the promotion of Sainey Sanyang.
Njie testified that there came that he was told to realize that the Mayor “trusts” the Commissioner, and therefore, he should relax.
“He (Sainey Sanyang) did not have any qualifications,” the witness disclosed.
Njie and Saidy said they wrote to the Establishment and Appointment Committee, and the Human Resources Department of the KMC for the matter to be looked into but they ignored them.
He disclosed further that the matter was also reported to the Office of the Ombudsman and that it was investigated, and the Ombudsman wrote a letter to the CEO of the KMC and copied the said letter to the Local Government Service Commission and the Mayor of KMC. The letter conveying the decision of the Ombudsman was dated 3rd March 2023.
The decision of the Ombudsman, he said, was that the promotion of Sainey Sanyang from Assistant Superintendent to the position of Deputy Commissioner should be reversed. It was held that he did not qualify to be in that position. The Ombudsman demanded that the decision be rescinded.
“Until today, Sainey Sanyang remains in that position. Nothing happened after this (Ombudsman’s decision was made),” the witness said.
Njie said instead of allowing the Ombudsman to go ahead, some officials of the KMC, including market manager, Modou Njie, and Bakary Darboe alias BB, were persuading them to withdraw the complaint before the Ombudsman. He added that at the time of the discussion with Modou Njie and BB, Sainey Sanyang was present.
Superintendent Samba Saidy, a resident of Sukuta Nema, said he joined the KMC in 1995. Saidy said he first served the Gambia National Army before his voluntary retirement in 1993 after a few training, which included basic military training and the British Army Training team deployed to the Gambia. He added that he also went to Liberia under the ECOMOG contingent among others his mentioned military career.
Samba Saidy explained that he is a superintendent. He said the Municipal Police Unit system requires that the zone commanders should head the zones. He added that since the coming of Malamin Ceesay, he has been moved from one place to another, including serving as a zone commander. He decried that Commissioner Malamin Ceesay had deployed him to the KMC annex to watch over the “Mbalit” vehicles. He testified that the job was not even suitable for a holder of the rank of sergeant. He said Commissioner Ceesay has been doing that to provoke him so that if he reacts, he would use that against him and charge him. He stated that now Saidy heads the security of the Bakoteh Fish Market.
On the appointment of Sainey Sanyang, Saidy said it was based on nepotism, he accused Commissioner Malamin Ceesay, former CEO Kajali Janneh, and Mayor Talib Bensouda of working together to appoint Sanyang even though they knew he was not fit for the job.
“We have more qualifications. We served longer than him, and we have more experience than Sainey Sanyang,” Samba Saidy said.
Saidy continued, there was a newspaper publication advertising the position of Commissioner of Police. He applied with his colleague, Kebba Njie, and they were interviewed. He testified that at the time, they used to see Malamin Ceesay coming in and out of the Council to the office of the Mayor in his Gambia Police Force uniform.
‘’Ceesay was a serving member of the Gambia Police Force at that time. The position was cooked for him. He used to come to the Office of the Mayor at the time. ” the witness said.