Ismaila Jallow, the councillor of Suba Ward who has doubled as the Vice Chairman of Brikama Area Council from 2018 to date, has accused ex-chairman Sheriffo Sonko of being an incompetent leader. He made this accusation during his appearance on Tuesday before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry.
“He [Sheriffo Sonko] is incompetent. I used to tell him that. I used to go to his office and tell him that. That is why there was no development in the Brikama Area Council (BAC) during his time,” Ismaila Jallow said.
Ismaila Jallow also admitted that he was also a failure because of shared responsibilities. He testified that Sheriffo Sonko divided the Council and chose the people who would work with him.
“I was his vice, but I was not assigned to do any job,” he said.
He testified that Sonko used to travel and come back without notifying him. He stated that one of the failures of the Council was that only 10 wards benefitted from the ward allocations between May 2018 and May 2023 when Sonko was replaced.
“I failed in my responsibility as a vice chairman,” the witness said.
He said it takes the BAC more than 6 months without holding general council meetings in clear violation of the law. It is a requirement of law that the council should sit at least once every month. He explained that the reason that was given for not holding the monthly meetings was because there were no funds available to pay the sitting allowances. He said the sitting allowance was Five Hundred Dalasi (D500), but when the new leadership took over in 2023, it was increased to Two Thousand Five Hundred Dalasi (D2500).
“They will tell you there is no money in the Council to pay the allowance. That was why there were no meetings. That was why there were no developments,” he said.
The written statement of the witness dated 22 May 2024 was tendered and admitted in evidence. He stated that the only amount of money his ward received from the BAC was Five Hundred Thousand Dalasi (D500,000) as allocation for the ward. He further stated that the money was used to build a market shade for the vendors in Brikama Jidda.
“I am aware of the Geology Funds, but we [Suba Ward] have never benefitted from it,” he said.
The witness said he was a member of the Finance Committee, WDC/VDC Conflict Resolution Committee, Environment Committee, Development Committee, and Market Committee. He claimed that the committees used to sit at least twice each month. He added that he is an ex-officio member of all the committees.
He testified that he wrote a petition to the Ministry against former CEO Mam Sait Jallow for his retirement because he was incompetent. Before delving into the details, he was asked to provide the petition and any document he wished to rely on, including meeting minutes of things he claimed he mentioned during meetings.
He was asked about the “Salibo Allowance.” The witness said it was an honorarium
“To me, it was not a ‘Salibo’ Allowance. We were told it was an honorarium. I now know that it was unlawful,” he said.
“How did the honorarium come about?” Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez asked.
“We were told by the Director of Finance that they will be paying us honorarium,” the witness answered.
He testified that some of the members of the market committee and the finance committee used to go with the collectors to help them in their collection. He further testified that he never went for that exercise. He was asked what work he did to receive the honorarium.
“I don’t go to the field with them. I only sit in their meetings and advise them,” the witness stated.
He emphasised that the payment of the allowance was unlawful. He added that there was no council resolution in that respect.
He testified that he has taken the 1 by 6 allowance payment – which is an advance payment of the allowance payable within 6 months. He further testified that he was not entitled to receive the 1 by 6 allowance as he labelled the payment as wrong.
