The Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) has strongly reacted to a statement made by Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, leader of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), alleging that Yankuba Colley, the mayor of Kanifing Municipality who is also the APRC national mobiliser, is using the funds and rates paid by compound owners in the municipality to fund party rallies.

It would be recalled that Ousainou Darboe, in a recent publication in Today newspaper said: “The mayor of Kanifing Municipality is using the funds and rates paid by me and other compound owners to fund party rallies.” 

Below we reproduce the full text of the  KMC’s response.  
The statement by UDP leader Ousainou Darboe that Mayor Yankuba Colley is using rates paid by him and other compound owners in the Municipality to fund APRC rallies is incorrect and totally misleading. The KMC collects and spends public funds in a highly judicious and transparent manner and in accordance with the Local Government Financial Regulations.

The APRC is an established political entity with the capacity to fund its own activities without falling back on the KMC and Mr Darboe should not be the one to feed the public with misleading information. The Lord Mayor’s political activities and commitments are met exclusively by the APRC and as a senior aide to him, I know exactly how he functions as Mayor of the Municipality and the National Mobiliser for the ruling party.

The Lord Mayor sends regular requests to his First National Chairman and party leader Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh at the level of the APRC Bureau for all their operational needs and has drawn a distinct line between his two functions. As we speak the Mayor is in Wuli East on a political assignment and even the vehicle he is using belongs to the APRC and the party took care of his trip exclusively.

The most interesting bit of it all is that Mr Darboe has no moral authority to accuse the KMC of misusing rates allegedly paid by him and other yard owners because he happens to be one of those who fail to pay their rates. The last time Mr Darboe settled his rates was precisely on 25th August 2006 and by all indications, this was only done to clear the way for his nomination as presidential candidate for his party. To date, he owes the KMC an outstanding arrears of D6,314.16, excluding the current year.

I have always regarded and treated Mr Darboe as a fatherly figure and a responsible senior citizen of this country. He should not allow his political ambition and emotions to bring personality into disrepute. The allegation he has made against the Council is a very serious one and as an institution, we have no political beef with him. If anything, he should be honest and genuine enough to pay up his arrears and apologise to the Council.