{"id":83011,"date":"2025-07-30T06:11:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T06:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/sheriffo-sonko-denies-d33-million-fund-involvement"},"modified":"2025-07-30T07:14:34","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T07:14:34","slug":"sheriffo-sonko-denies-d33-million-fund-involvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/sheriffo-sonko-denies-d33-million-fund-involvement","title":{"rendered":"Sheriffo Sonko Denies D33 Million Fund Involvement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Sheriffo Sonko, former Chairman of the Brikama Area Council, has denied any role in the management and disbursement of over D33.7 million in royalties received from the Department of Geology, funds meant for distribution to communities affected by mining activities between May 2020 and June 2023.<\/b><\/p>\n

Appearing before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry, Sonko testified that he was not involved in the administration or allocation of the D33,713,176.01 in royalties during his tenure. He told the commission that the funds were handled by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Director of Finance, and the Director of Planning, in collaboration with the relevant councillor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis money, when it comes, is in the responsibility of the CEO and the director of finance,\u201d Sonko stated. \u201cThe disbursement, also, the process\u2014I am not there. It is done between the CEO, the Director of Finance and Planning, and the councillor,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Lead Counsel Patrick Gomez, however, pressed Sonko on his lack of awareness, pointing out that as chairman, he had an oversight role over the council\u2019s executive management, including the CEO and finance director.<\/p>\n

Sonko conceded that his ignorance of the matter might have been an oversight on his part. \u201cBut I don\u2019t know. I should make a follow-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counsel Gomez challenged Sonko\u2019s claims, stating that as chairman, he was ultimately responsible for ensuring transparency and accountability in the council\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n

Counsel Gomez stressed that the funds were specifically designated for the affected communities and should not have been diverted to cover council expenses.<\/p>\n

He further informed Sonko that, given his denial of any knowledge regarding the matter, the commission would summon the council\u2019s CEO and Director of Finance for further questioning.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou knew that the money was coming in, but you had no interest in making sure it was spent in the right manner,\u201d Counsel Gomez said.<\/p>\n

Sonko acknowledged that he only became aware of the D33 million in royalties when the CEO and finance director testified before the commission. He also agreed with the lead counsel that the funds were not managed properly and conceded that he had not made any effort to track whether the money was used for its intended purpose.<\/p>\n

Further questioning revealed that a significant portion of the funds was used to offset the council\u2019s negative bank balances, rather than being disbursed to the communities for whom the royalties were intended. According to evidence presented before the commission, only D3 million was allocated to the affected communities.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. Sheriffo Sonko, former Chairman of the Brikama Area Council, has denied any role in the management and disbursement of over D33.7 million in royalties received from the Department of Geology, funds meant for distribution to communities affected by mining activities between May 2020 and June 2023. Appearing before the Local Government Commission […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":83009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-83011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nSheriffo Sonko Denies D33 Million Fund Involvement - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sheriffo Sonko, former Chairman of the Brikama Area Council, has denied any role in the management and disbursement o ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/sheriffo-sonko-denies-d33-million-fund-involvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sheriffo Sonko Denies D33 Million Fund Involvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sheriffo Sonko, former Chairman of the Brikama Area Council, has denied any role in the management and disbursement o ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/sheriffo-sonko-denies-d33-million-fund-involvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-30T06:11:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-30T07:14:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/07\/sm_1753847027.803084.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/sheriffo-sonko-denies-d33-million-fund-involvement#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/sheriffo-sonko-denies-d33-million-fund-involvement\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Sheriffo Sonko Denies D33 Million Fund Involvement\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-30T06:11:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-30T07:14:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/sheriffo-sonko-denies-d33-million-fund-involvement\"},\"wordCount\":434,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/sheriffo-sonko-denies-d33-million-fund-involvement#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/07\/sm_1753847027.803084.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/sheriffo-sonko-denies-d33-million-fund-involvement#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/sheriffo-sonko-denies-d33-million-fund-involvement\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/sheriffo-sonko-denies-d33-million-fund-involvement\",\"name\":\"Sheriffo Sonko Denies D33 Million Fund Involvement - 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