By Arret Jatta
Musa Bah, the former deputy mayor at Kanifing Municipality, yesterday told the Local Government Commission, that his resignation as deputy mayor coincided with a scandal about him allegedly taking bribe at the council.
At first, the witness said he resigned due to the passing of his mom but when further questioned by the lead counsel, he admitted that he resigned for both reasons.
“I decided to reduce the burden on myself to have that traquility for a while so that I will not hold the position without working, and that’s the very reason why I decided to forgo the deputy mayor position and stick to my councilor position”, Mr Bah said.
“When you resigned in 2021, where there any issues you were facing apart from the death of your mother?” Counsel Patrick Gomez asked the witness.
“My attendance to work was not so good, so after the demise of my mom that actually coincided with whatever scandal I may have, then I said I must stick to my position and if I do, I will not be going to the council every day to report to work,” the witness responded.
“So, it coincided with a scandal that you have had as a deputy mayor within this period,” Lead Counsel further asked.
Mr Bah responded by saying yes.
When asked what the scandal was about, he said it was an allegation about a leaked audio.
“What about the leaked audio?” Counsel Gomez asked.
“Well I heard it was about soliciting bribe,” he said.
“Who was said to be soliciting bribe?” Lead Counsel asked the witness.
“According to what I heard, they said I was soliciting bribe from somebody who works for Ecotech,” he replied
“Ecotech is a company that has a contract with KMC for revenue collection and for purpose of maximizing the revenue, and the allegation was that you were soliciting bribe right?” Counsel Gomez put it to him.
He also responded: “Yes, according to what I heard”.
The witness added that this accusation coincided with his mom’s demise and it was a devastating moment for him.
“Would it be fair to say the demise of your mom, and the allegations that you were soliciting bribe at that point in time made you think that it is best to resign?” Counsel asked the witness.
“Yes, to some degree and at the same time I feel like sometimes, it’s good to honourably resign until things are clear,” the witness said.
