By: Lolly Sowe
Bakary Y Badjie, National People’s Party (NPP) mayoral candidate for Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), has challenged the incumbent mayor of KMC Talib Ahmed Bensouda to show the people his development achievements within the Municipality since he came into office.
Mr. Badjie outlined that mayors, ministers, MPs, and presidents are chosen by the people depending on the development of the country.
“If you want to continue ruling the people, you need to show and tell them what you have done that will convince them to re-elect you,” he said.
He asserted that the council, under the leadership of Talib Ahmed Bensouda, has increased taxes without bringing projects for the people.
“Yet he is saying if I am elected, he will construct 23km roads, touring the region that he has projects in progress yet for 2 to 3 months nothing has been done,” he added.
“We all know that Talib is with UDP and what he does then was going to markets and giving pampers to people and helping football clubs, when he became Mayor for five years, he is neither seen nor part of any program.
Now that election is fast approaching, he is giving sugar, rice, and bags of cement to people thinking he will get what he gets in 2018,” Bakary claimed.
The NPP-chosen contestant added that if the football fields are under the council, why is Bensouda distributing bags of cement to the football committee a few weeks from the elections?
“The Iftar he is giving to people isn’t real because he is doing it for the coming election because there were 4 passed months of Ramadan that he doesn’t give Iftar to people,” Bakary said.
“They are telling people that the revenue of the council increased three-hundred million when they came in, but they are not telling people that the money is coming from people,” he noted.
He said that if taxes, trade licenses, and duties before were D5, they are now D10, adding that rental boutiques of D500 to D1000 have jumped to D2000 and that they will be receiving D3000 soon.
Badjie added that the service the council is doing with the money should be the question because he remembers Lie Conteh’s time when he built Latrikunda Germany market, ‘Marseh Ngelew, Serrekunda market, Talinding, Bakau, and Ebo town markets, adding that Lie built Serrekunda East mini stadium, Serrekunda West mini stadium, and Manjai park.
He further went on to say that when Yankuba Colley came, he built the Abuko market, Old Jeshwang market, Talinding Sika market, the new market at Latrikunda Sabiji, and Charles Jaw senior school.
