Africa-Press – Gambia. Isatou Njie, the former National Coordinator of the Gambia Chapter of the Network of Locally Elected Women in Africa (RAFELA), appeared before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, where she testified that her contributions to the organization were overlooked, and her authority undermined under the leadership of Mayor Rohey Malick Lowe.
Njie stated that despite her dedication, she was sidelined and ultimately left the organization in December. “My Efforts were not rewarded, unfortunately, but I took it in good faith. I left in December and until now, I have not set foot there. I wish her (Mayor Lowe) good luck, but the only advice I have for her is that, the rest of the people you have, make sure you empower them because they will gradually leave one by one if they don’t see anything beneficial anymore. When you are empowering one woman and killing another woman on the other hand, what does that look like,” she asked.
Njie shared that she joined RAFELA through her voluntary work with the Banjul City Council (BCC) and had previously supported Mayor Lowe’s campaign. Her dedication earned her a recommendation to serve as the National Coordinator.
She described RAFELA as a network dedicated to the political and economic empowerment of women, addressing gender-based violence, and advocating for zero tolerance of children living on the streets. However, she revealed that the organization lacked sufficient funding and structural support, with key roles such as regional coordinators left unfilled due to resource constraints.
She further testified that RAFELA typically relies on project-based funding from partners such as the UNDP and does not have an operations budget, which is why most of the team works on a volunteer basis.
“There was no funding for operational costs for RAFELA. People like me were kind of partially volunteering. The funds that RAFELA received mainly from UNDP were meant for projects and after the project the accounts are empty, and then we will go and look for other projects,” she said.
Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez questioned whether this funding model reflected poor structural planning. Njie acknowledged that while there may have been structural issues, the main challenge was the failure to secure operational funding alongside project grants.
“Well, maybe it was not properly structured, but for me, I think it was when we went to look for fundings to execute projects. We should have also looked for funding for the operational cost. But that was not the case,” she admitted.
She further testified that while she prepared annual work plans, only components aligned with UNDP’s interests received funding. She said the President of RAFELA frequently travelled and sourced some funding independently, citing initiatives like the Youth Voluntarism Project and the Bloomberg Project.
“The president of RAFELA travels a lot, and she used to go, and she has her own ways of trying to bring some funds under RAFELA, like the youth voluntarism and the Bloomberg project. To be frank enough, myself as a coordinator at some point was just a title for some. I was not empowered and not being empowered was the reason I gradually forgot about everything and left,” She Said.
Njie also testified that she felt disempowered in her role and, despite being offered some capacity-building opportunities—including a trip to the U.S. for city leadership training at Harvard University—she was ultimately excluded from meaningful participation in her work.
Gomez remarked that the evidence suggested RAFELA had been repurposed to serve the personal interests of the Mayor rather than its stated public objectives. “We see public funds being put in to an institution like RAFELA, if it was serving the public good it would have perhaps been important but you as the coordinator is giving us evidence that, at some point it was as if only have the title but knows nothing about RAFELA,” He Asked.
The witness replied that she wouldn’t say she was unaware of RAFELA. While her responsibilities made it difficult for her to go to work every day, she managed to go at least three to four times a week. However, due to her passion and love for the work, she made it a point to go in every day.
“If you build my capacity but let me sit in the office and there are times that, I don’t know what is going on but I will not say I did not know anything about RAFELA,” the witness said.
The witness stated that RAFELA maintained two separate accounts at BSIC Bank—one for the Youth Voluntarism Project and another for the Bloomberg Project. She noted that she served as a secondary signatory on these accounts, while Mayor Lowe, as President of RAFELA, held the position of principal signatory.
She further confirmed that RAFELA had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Banjul City Council, which was officially signed on October 3, 2019.
According to the witness, the MoU outlined a partnership whereby RAFELA would collaborate with the Council on initiatives aimed at enhancing the well-being of women and youth in the City of Banjul. The MoU, which was admitted into evidence and marked as an exhibit, specifically emphasized efforts to promote the economic empowerment of women by providing them with access to financial resources, thereby fostering independence.
“The areas of partnership reads. That RAFELA shall partner with Banjul City Council in implementing projects that shall improve the lives of women and youth of the City of Banjul. And the MOU was admitted into evidence and marked as an exhibit. The areas of partnership, to partner with BCC to develop visions of economic empowerment of women giving them access to finances making them independent,” the witness explained.
The lead counsel asked, “Is there a program you have with BCC that fulfills this partnership requirement?”
The witness replied, “Apart from the Rohey Malick Lowe initiative for women and girls empowerment that they give funding for micro finances and stuff like that. RAFELA has not have any micro finances yet.”
The Madam Chair of the commission, Jainaba Bah, inquired, “three hundred thousand was this allocated to RAFELA yearly and paid into the RAFELA account,”? she asked.
The witness responded, “Once, they used to pay us directly at the BCC. The three hundred thousand was meant for allowance for myself and the others for six months.”
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