By: Fatou Krubally
Sitting National Assembly Member for Banjul, Modou Lamin Bah, last Thursday admitted before the ongoing local government commission of inquiry that he had limited understanding of financial procedures during his tenure as the public relations officer of Banjul City Council between 2019 and 2022.
Testifying for the second time, Bah was questioned over multiple disbursements made in his name, some of which appeared to have conflicting purposes. One such transaction was a D5,000-payment, recorded as a consultancy fee for public relations services, while in a separate manual voucher it was described as a condolence package for a council driver.
Confronted with the discrepancy, Bah expressed confusion. “I couldn’t even remember the issue of consultancy,” he said, suggesting it may have been a mistake in the voucher preparation.
Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez pressed Bah on the council’s impress system; a financial arrangement for emergency or short-notice expenditures. He cited the local government financial manual, which mandated that all impressed funds must be properly retired with supporting receipts.
Bah initially claimed that condolence payments were typically not retired, as he usually attended such events with a team. But Gomez pointed out that this practice violated the law, which stated that no further impress should be given to any officer who has not fully retired from previous ones.
In response, Bah admitted lapses in his knowledge: “To be honest, I didn’t understand all this then. But now I do,” he said.
He was also questioned about a D25,000 impression issued for the mayor’s tour to the North Bank and Central River regions. The breakdown of expenses included D6,000 for a PA system, DD2,000 for lighting, and D13,000 for media coverage, none of which were backed by invoices. Bah said he relied on verbal quotes from DJs and service providers, claiming those were the cheapest available options.
Asked if he could have secured lower costs, Bah conceded, “That’s a possibility, yes,” but insisted he acted in good faith based on the information at the time.