The Gambia has suspended several council chief executives on half pay pending further investigations arising from the findings of the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, with the chief executive of Kerewan Area Council ordered to stay away from work with immediate effect.

Sainabou Martin, the chief executive of Kerewan Area Council and a former chief executive of Kanifing Municipal Council, was suspended under a letter from the Local Government Service Commission, signed by its secretary, Mucktarr M.Y. Darboe. Several other council chief executives who appeared before the commission have been suspended on the same terms.

The commission said the decision followed a government directive and was taken under Section 118 of the Local Government Act 2002, the Local Government Service Commission Regulations 2003 and the General Orders. The suspension is not a dismissal and is not a determination of guilt, according to the letter.

Strict conditions during the suspension

Under the terms of the suspension, Martin must surrender all council property in her possession, including any official vehicle, office keys, files, records and computer equipment, within 24 hours of receiving the letter. She is barred from entering Kerewan Area Council premises without written permission, and from interfering with council records, staff or witnesses. She also may not leave The Gambia without prior authorisation from the commission.

She must remain available to the commission, the Auditor General and the Inspector General of Police throughout the investigations. The commission has undertaken to serve her with the charges and supporting evidence within 21 days, after which she will have the opportunity to respond in writing and appear before a disciplinary panel. She may be accompanied or represented at the hearing, and her suspension will be reviewed every 90 days.

The suspension is intended to clear the way for several parallel processes: disciplinary proceedings before the Local Government Service Commission, possible surcharge proceedings by the Auditor General, economic crime investigations by the Attorney General's Chambers, and a fitness review. The government has described the suspensions as protective measures to safeguard public funds, records and the integrity of the investigations, rather than findings of wrongdoing.

What the inquiry found

The suspensions follow the government's White Paper on the report of the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, released on 29 October. The commission found that Martin, as accounting officer of Kanifing Municipal Council, authorised irregular payments and loan guarantees that caused a loss of D696,609 to the council and a D5 million disbursement to a non-operational transport company.

According to the White Paper, she paid contractors without competitive bidding or clearance from the contracts committee, executed welfare loan guarantees without council approval, including an AGIB guarantee of D800,000 and a Trust Bank loan of about D1 million that was debited directly from the council's main account when it defaulted, and admitted receiving a D30,000 inducement from a contractor in her office. The commission recommended immediate suspension, surcharge, economic crime and fitness proceedings, and the government accepted the recommendation.

The commission was established in February 2023 by the president under Section 200 of the Constitution and Legal Notice No. 7 of 2023 to inquire into eight local government councils. Its White Paper also seeks the removal of elected council leaders, including Kanifing mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Banjul mayor Rohey Malick Lowe, Mansakonko chairman Landing B. Sanneh and Kuntaur chairman Saikou Jawara, with their councils directed to begin removal procedures.

Sheriffo Sonko, a former chairman of Brikama Area Council who now serves in the foreign service, is also expected to face a similar suspension. The suspensions come weeks before The Gambia's presidential election, scheduled for 5 December, and the affected officials remain entitled to answer the allegations against them through the disciplinary, audit and investigative processes now under way.