Freetown City Mayor on the spotlight

For failure to account for billions of Leones

…FCC Mayor and Chief Administrator to be probed

By Raymond Bai- Kamara

If reports from the House of Parliament and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning are anything to go by, then the Mayor of Freetown City Council (FCC), His Lordship Bode Gibson and his Chief Administrator, Abu Bakarr Daramy, may be probed on allegations of failing to account for billions of Leones as per the 2014/2015 national budget.

  

According to latest reports reaching Shekpendeh, the House of Parliament is looking forward to the Mayor of Freetown and his Chief Administrator to give proper account of monies received for the implementation of projects within the period.

The Ministry of Finance, report says, is also awaiting an official report from the relating to billions of Leones the ministry has so far allocated to FCC from the national budget.

The ministry is also expecting FCC to account for several numbers of projects that involve huge sums of money which sources say may likely lead the Anti- Corruption Commission (ACC) to probe the mayor and his chief administrator.

The chief administrator, sources say, has left the country for the US where it is believed he’s a citizen.

The motive for his sudden departure is yet to be ascertained especially giving that an allegation of corruption is hanging over him and his boss.

Responding to the allegations levied on the FCC when contacted by our reporter, the Mayor of the City denied some of the allegations while the others were shifted to the Finance Officer, Mohamed Madina Bah for explanation.

According to Mr. Bah, in 2015, they received the sum total of Le 14 Billion from government and collected the sum of Le 18 Billion by way of tax payments. He went further to say that government currently owes council the sum of $35,000,000 as city rates for government buildings.

Meanwhile, the Mayor of Freetown and senior officials including the Chief Administrator and Finance Officer will have to explain how contracts were awarded and also give account on the status of the long awaited construction of the City Hall and the rehabilitation work of the Rokupa, Macaulay Street and King Haman Road hospitals.

Meanwhile also, FCC is allegedly failing to educate the public on expenditure involved in expended projects leaving behind traces of suspicion on the council.