By Omar Bah
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Kanifing Municipal Council has denied allegations that the council struggled to pay salaries on time because of a financial crisis. Sources close to the council informed The Standard that KMC has not still paid its staff their October salaries because it doesn’t have the financial muscle to do so.
“As I speak to you, I have not received my salary and they have not given me any explanation as to why they delayed my salary,” a staff of the council, who begged for anonymity, told The Standard.
The news however came a few weeks after KM Mayor Talib Bensouda announced that the council is projecting over D400 million for its 2023.
But reacting to the allegations yesterday, DCEO Kajali Janneh said: “The delay of salary payment is not caused by financial issues. You know when I joined the council, they were paying salaries from 21st to the end of the month but for me, I decided to come out with more measures to ensure transparency and avoid any malpractices.
“So, I stop approving payments like that without taking it through rigorous vetting which includes verifying the numbers with the finance department and the council has over 1000 staff. So, it is not an easy job because you have to vet them one by one and also establish the issues of deduction because sometimes you have staff who would be absent for two months,” he said.
He added: “Before I approve, I advise all the directors in the various departments to determine the attendance of staff and ensure they are paid based on that because some staff will go for their annual leave and refuse to return on time. So we want to ensure that these issues are addressed in the council”.
He said that is what caused the delay but those who received their salaries from the counters started receiving their salaries since 26th of the month.
“So, I can assure you that before the end of tomorrow (Wednesday) all the salary issues will be sorted out and the staff will start receiving their salaries,” he said.
Mr Janneh said the council has never defaulted in its salary payment but the new procedure is brought to ensure accountability and transparency.
“In fact, this has been the procedure since I came. It is just that this recent delay was caused by the fact that we were busy at the National Assembly. So, the person who is responsible for the submissions could not do so on time – it was only on the 28th of the month that it was submitted for my review and endorsement,” he said.
The deputy CEO said staff of the council can be assured that there are no financial issues at the council and all their salaries will be paid accordingly.
“We apologise for the delay and the inconvenience it may cause to the affected staff,” he said.
When contacted for comments, Mayor Talib Bensouda, who was in the United Kingdom at the time, said he was not even aware that the staff didn’t receive their salaries.
