By: Fatou krubally
Fatou Mbenga, a former Assistant Public Relations Officer at Banjul City Council (BCC), testified about various payments she facilitated under instructions from the mayor.
During intense questioning by Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez, Mbenga admitted that certain payments were made without following proper procurement procedures, including instances where contractors were asked to provide additional invoices to support their claims.
One of the key revelations from Mbenga’s testimony was her acknowledgment that SAPS Multimedia Consultancy, which was contracted for services, was asked to submit two additional invoices from other companies to “support” its own. When pressed by Gomez on whether she understood procurement regulations, Mbenga admitted she did not. She could not recall who gave the directive for SAPS to obtain the extra invoices but confirmed that the instruction for the payments came from the mayor.
The transactions under scrutiny included a payment of D93,000 to SAPS Multimedia Consultancy for the sound system and TV screen hire for a town hall meeting. Supporting invoices from Sky J Multimedia and Hamdan Kasiran Printing Company were also submitted, with amounts higher than SAPS’ invoice. The lead counsel challenged the integrity of this process, questioning why a contractor would be required to provide invoices from competitors.
Mbenga further admitted that she was given instructions to distribute large sums of money, including D95,000 to Marget Samba, who serves as the mayor’s protocol officer, and another D10,000 to Omar Cham from a local hunting society. Some funds were also spent on social contributions and media services, with little to no documentation on procurement procedures.
She further revealed that payments were sometimes “pre-financed” by the council’s cashier before official requests were made, a practice that raised further concerns about financial transparency at BCC.
As Mbenga’s testimony continues, more questions arise regarding the financial management of the council under the mayor’s leadership. The inquiry remains focused on uncovering whether due process was followed in handling public funds, with auditors already pointing to major discrepancies. The commission will resume its investigations in the coming days, with expectations of more high-level revelations.