By Arret Jatta
Pa Modou Ndow, licence manager at Banjul City Council (BCC), testified at the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, yesterday to explain how large sums of money were deposited into his personal account.
Ndow had previously claimed before the commission that the funds came from his sister in Europe, but the commission demanded evidence to support his claim.
Yesterday, he appeared before the commission to give those evidences.
He began by submitting his salary statements and remittance documents from his sister from 2019 to 2024. However, Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez found the documents insufficient, noting that most transfers didn’t come from Mbackè Finance, as Ndow claimed.
“Can you get us the monies received here and the deposits into your account?” Gomez asked. Ndow replied that he receives transfers from different individuals, not just Mbackè Finance.
Counsel Gomez pressed Ndow for clarity: “So, it means we do not have evidence of these monies deposited into your account, correct?” Ndow agreed. “Yes.”
The commission focused on the large sums in Ndow’s account, questioning how his salary couldn’t justify the deposits.
“The financial transactions in your bank account do not suggest that you live in accordance with your earnings,” Gomez told the witness.
Ndow’s salary was revealed to be D20,000 per month, from 2024, but previously it was D13,000 or D14,000.
Counsel Gomez put it to Ndow that his role as license manager has potential influence over payments.
“You dictate the mode of payment of licences. You decide who pays what, and how they pay it,” Gomez said. But Ndow maintained that he doesn’t handle cash and only issues invoices.
Gomez further questioned Ndow about his financial transactions: “Your account has hundreds of thousands of dalasis deposited in it. Your salary cannot have this amount, cannot guarantee these sums of monies into your account”.
Ndow replied that he receives transfers from different individuals, but Gomez remained skeptical. “So, you can say as loud as you want that I do not do that. But that would not be true. And you can’t convince anyone that that is not the case.”
