KMC Rejects Gov’t’s Recommendation For Removal Of Mayor Bensouda

The Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) General Council yesterday passed a resolution rejecting government’s recommendation in its white paper on the LG Commission to remove Mayor Talib Bensouda from office.

The resolution rejecting the mayor’s removal was adopted at an emergency General Council meeting, with an overwhelming total of 15 councilors voting to keep the mayor. Two other councillors abstained while only one voted for his removal.

Presenting his position before the General Council, the mayor described the LG Commission of Inquiry as a politically motivated exercise against the KMC which is an autonomous institution accountable to the people who elected its members.

He traced the inquiry to earlier allegations raised by the Council against its former Chief Executive Officer, claiming that an initial ministerial investigation had supported Council’s concerns but was rejected by the government.

“We therefore regard the Government’s Commission of Inquiry as a political retaliation against KMC,” he said.

Mayor Bensouda also defended the Council’s actions over the D10,000 allowances paid to councillors for market surveys, the Mbalit waste management project and the D13.1 million paid to the Gambia Revenue Authority as import duties for waste collection trucks.

He maintained that the allowances were approved through a General Council resolution, while the Mbalit project went through Council’s procurement structures and the Gambia Public Procurement Authority, GPPA.

The mayor wondered why any serious person would question monies paid as import duties to government. “If anything, the government should have provided a duty waiver for the trucks giving their importance to better the lives of the community,” the mayor argued.

He told the assembled councillors that he had no intention to influence their decision on the government’s recommendation for his removal.

“I am not dictating anybody’s vote. In fact, I will not be present during your vote,” he said, before leaving the councillors to themselves.

In its resolution, the General Council expressed dissatisfaction with government’s recommendation saying there is no sufficient basis for the Council to initiate removal proceedings against Mayor Bensouda.

The Council argued that the publication of the white paper did not automatically constitute a lawful decision to remove the mayor, stressing that any removal process must comply with the Local Government Act 2022, as amended.

Following the adoption of the first resolution, the presiding officer directed the Clerk of Council to record the decision and communicate it to the relevant authorities.

The Council subsequently introduced a second resolution seeking the formal rejection of Government White Paper, Volume 2, in its entirety. The motion was considered separately after further contributions from councillors.