Africa-Press – Gambia. Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) has called for improved transparency and fairness in the collection and distribution of car park fees by the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA).
Speaking before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday, Mayor Bensouda said that while the current collection process is generally orderly, it lacks clarity in terms of equitable distribution among councils. His remarks came in response to questions from Chairperson Jainaba Bah regarding the management of car park fees.
The mayor suggested revising the current system to account for the relative size of each council, ensuring a fairer allocation of resources. He noted that when KMC was directly responsible for collecting car park fees, it generated over D20 million annually. Under the present system, he said, the council now receives about D4 million per year.
“KMC lost big time because they are sharing equally among councils, and we now get D4 million yearly,” Mayor Bensouda said, adding that the current system was introduced under former President Yahya Jammeh to address disruptive collection practices, where council officers would stop vehicles on the road to collect payments.
To improve transparency and accountability, Mayor Bensouda proposed alternative methods, such as registering vehicles according to the owner’s place of residence. This, he argued, would enable councils to track car park fee contributions more accurately. However, he expressed concern that the current vehicle registration process by police does not adequately support such a system.
“But the manner in which police register these vehicles is something that does not reflect the way they operate,” he said.
On another matter, the mayor addressed questions relating to the KEPT project. He confirmed that project-related signatures were processed through the steering committee and the general council. Regarding procurement procedures, Mayor Bensouda explained that the KEPT project follows the same process as other council operations, requiring contract committee and council approval for procurements exceeding D500,000.
He acknowledged that the project initially did not adhere to domestic procurement procedures but said that following councillors’ requests, KEPT began aligning its processes accordingly, ensuring proposals were reviewed by the contract committee before approval.
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