The local government commission of inquiry recently questioned Fatou Mbenga, the former Banjul City Council (BCC) assistant public relations officer, over a number of financial requests made on Mayor Rohey Malick Lowe’s behalf. The panel was informed by Mbenga that she had been directed to make these requests.
Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez asked if the witness had a close relationship with the mayor during the proceedings, and Mbenga acknowledged that she did. She denied having a direct relationship to the mayoress, though, when questioned about it.
The lead attorney pointed out that Mbenga’s repeated requests for money on Mayor Lowe’s behalf were the reason behind the inquiry. “I enquired since it seemed that you were requesting a lot of money on the mayoress Rohey Malick Lowe’s behalf. Counsel went on to ask the witness, “Why was that the case?
According to the witness, she followed the Mayoress’s and the CEO’s instructions when making the requests.
Mbenga said that it depends on the type of payment when the lawyer questioned her about what she did with the money.
The Lead Counsel said, “Please let us know if there are any other payment categories. For example, payment to the media.”
“After the program, I will pay the media houses and media outlets,” Fatou Mbenga told the inquiry, indicating that she was in charge of paying media outlets after BCC events.
The vouchers for the cash demands made during Mbenga’s tenure at BCC were then reviewed by the lead counsel.
In reference to the mayor’s town hall gathering at Banjul North Constituency on March 26, 2022, Counsel read aloud, “We have a payment voucher D120,000 and it says it’s cash imprest for payment of TV channel streaming coverage.”
After being presented the voucher to verify that she had submitted the request, Mbenga admitted doing so.
Another one I have states that D200,000 Dalasis will be used as cash imprest to manufacture T-shirts for the March 2022 mayor’s town hall meeting in Banjul North. Counsel went on to read to the witness, “An additional voucher states D25,000 payment cash imprest for the payment of print media to provide payment for the mayor’s upcoming town hall meeting.”
He proceeded to go over the witness’s other filed vouchers. Declaring, “We have another voucher that states that D20,000 has been paid to you and that you have requested a present or gift package.” Counsel disclosed that the Mayor of Banjul had a voucher number 0492, D8,150, which requested the cost of credit to purchase airtime for calls and a data bundle.
On behalf of the Mayor, Fatou Mbenga submitted these and a number of other demands to the commission. The commission’s chairperson accepted the coupons as proof.
The witness was subsequently questioned by Lead Counsel, “Do you retire these monies?”
The witness responded by presenting the retirement receipts and confirming that she had retired the funds.
After then, the witness was given permission to examine the retirement records and compare them with the vouchers that were allowed into evidence.
