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Momodou
Denmark
11861 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Oct 2026 : 18:51:46
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Demand the Publication of the Local Government Commission Report and White Paper
By Madi Jobarteh
The time has come for all citizens of The Gambia to collectively and unequivocally demand that President Adama Barrow publish the full report of the Local Government Commission of Inquiry and his White Paper, complete with a costed implementation plan. This demand is not a mere request, but a civic duty rooted in the constitutional principles of transparency, accountability, and the rule of law.
When the Commission submitted its final report in May 2026 to President Barrow, the Local Government Minister Hamat Bah then told NAMs that by August the report and the white paper would be released to the public. That promise has now passed by two months with a deafening silence from the government.
This silence is an active affront to the people of The Gambia. Instead of a report, we hear disturbing reports of certain officials, such as mayors and chairpersons, receiving letters regarding the commission's findings.
This development smacks of weaponization and selective justice, validating the pervasive notion that this commission, established in 2023, was never a genuine fact-finding mission but a targeted attempt to malign and punish specific local government leaders, most notably Mayor Talib Bensouda and others.
The financial cost of this inquiry stands in stark contrast to its tangible outcomes. While a budget of D50 million was approved for the commission, it ultimately consumed over D150 million of public funds. After three years of hearings and expenditures, nothing meaningful has been presented to the public.
The hearings themselves were not without substance as they highlighted serious irregularities, profound institutional weaknesses, systemic corruption, and abuses of power. These findings offer an immense opportunity for meaningful reforms and systemic change.
One would reasonably expect that such a commission would highlight all pertinent issues and provide cogent, tangible recommendations that a president genuinely committed to good governance would be eager to implement with utmost urgency.
To understand the gravity of the current moment, one must examine the historical and constitutional context of local governance in The Gambia. The local government system is both weak and cumbersome legally, but it also suffers from immense interference and politicization.
The Constitution, under Section 193, envisages a local government system rooted in grassroots democracy with highly autonomous councils. Unfortunately, this vision has been systematically undermined.
Not only did the 2002 Local Government Act and its subsequent amendments constrain the councils by imposing central government control through the ministry and the Local Government Service Commission, but over the years, both the tinpot dictator Yaya Jammeh and President Barrow have continued to intrude into their mandates.
While Jammeh took away most of their revenue sources and imposed financial costs on them, since 2017, the Barrow government has also targeted opposition-held councils, especially KMC and BAC, to obstruct them in fulfilling their mandate.
Even the creation of the Local Government Commission of Inquiry was not conceived in good faith but established purposely to target and discredit Talib Bensouda in particular and the opposition mayors and chairpersons in general.
This current action of sending letters to mayors and chairpersons accusing them of irregularities without publishing the full report and the White Paper glaringly confirms the disingenuous intentions of the government against local authorities.
The demand for publication is not a matter of political preference. It is a constitutional obligation.
I demand that President Barrow and his Local Government Minister Hamat Bah immediately publish the full report and the White Paper first, as required by the Constitution under Section 203. This section mandates the publication of such reports, and the failure to do so is a direct violation of our supreme law.
Furthermore, what makes this local government commission even more suspicious is the glaring double standard applied by the executive.
There have been other commissions and parliamentary inquiries that made adverse findings on officials, including ministers and directors.
The Janneh Commission, the Russian oil inquiry, the GTBoard petition, and the Jammeh assets parliamentary committee all made adverse findings against individuals. Hamat Bah, Abdoulie Jobe, and Abdoulie Sanyang are among ministers adversely mentioned in some of these inquiries, yet the president ignores those findings and recommendations.
In the case of the Janneh Commission, Barrow has reinstated many officials into top government positions even when they were recommended for banning from holding public office.
In this regard, what justification is there to target certain local government leaders such as Mayor Talib Bensouda and Mayor Rohey Malick Lowe because of an inquiry whose report is not published? This is disingenuous, selective, autocratic, and a clear confirmation that indeed Barrow had set up the local government commission purposely for vengeance. He has shown that he is not interested in nor committed to transparency and accountability.
Until the full report of the commission and the subsequent White Paper are published, I urge the concerned mayors to totally ignore the letters received from anyone, because such letters are illegal in light of Sections 200 and 203 of the Constitution.
Once again, by their actions, President Barrow, his Local Government Minister Hamat Bah, and the Justice Minister Dawda Jallow are demonstrating their total disdain for our Constitution, democratic processes, and good governance principles. They are telling Gambians that they are disingenuous officials who are abusing their authority to serve selfish interests and not the national interest.
The Gambian people deserve better. They deserve a government that respects the Constitution, upholds the rule of law, and is genuinely committed to transparency and accountability. The continued suppression of the Local Government Commission's report and White Paper is a stain on the Barrow administration, and a betrayal of the trust placed in it by the citizens.
The demand is simple, legal, and just: Publish the commission report and the White Paper now. Until that happens, the government's claims of fighting corruption and promoting good governance will remain hollow and unbelievable. The time for silence is over. The time for action is now.
For The Gambia, Our Homeland
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Demand Publication of Local Government Commission
