By Lamin Cham
A highly placed government source has told The Standard that government is about to publish the report of the Local Government Commission of Enquiry, and its White Paper on it.
Government has initially targeted last month, August, for the publication of the documents Local Government Minister Hamat Bah, in an answer to a parliamentary question in June, informed the Assembly that the government has taken receipt of the Commission’s report and was at the time preparing a White Paper setting out its considered response to the findings and recommendations of the Commission.
Minister Bah said at the time that the preparation of the White Paper involves a comprehensive review of the Commission’s findings across all councils, a legal assessment of accountability issues, and consideration of relevant legislation, including the Local Government Act 2002, the Local Government Finance and Audit Act 2004, the Public Finance Act 2014, and other applicable laws.
He added that the process is intended to enable the government to formulate its policy position on the Commission’s recommendations before both the report and the white paper are officially released to the public. He also said the report and the white paper are expected to be released to the public by the end of August.
But with that deadline gone people are wondering what caused the delay.
Over the weakened, a highly placed source told The Standard that ‘the review committee set up by government to look at the report has done its job and sent it to the Attorney Generals’ Chambers from where it will be taken to cabinet for final approval and publication to the public. “That process will be over soon and the report and the while paper will be published imminently,” our source said.
The Commission of Inquiry was established in 2023 to examine allegations of financial mismanagement, procurement irregularities, and administrative lapses within local government councils across The Gambia.
The inquiry covered several municipalities and area councils, reviewing their use of public funds, contract awards, and overall governance practices over a number of years.
The Commission also examined concerns relating to the financial and administrative operations of the Councils, strengthen governance, improve service delivery, support local government reform, and reinforce accountability at the decentralised level.
Though, the government said the inquiry was envisaged to help it strengthen its institutions and ensure that public servants manage public resources in accordance with the law and in the public interest, officials from some quarters of the opposition which controls most of the councils, said it is a politically motivated plan to discredit them. Most members of the public however welcome the move saying it exposes serious lapses in financial management at the councils.