{"id":85948,"date":"2025-09-13T15:32:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T15:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/former-kmc-ceo-testifies-on-payment-approvals"},"modified":"2025-09-13T17:29:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:29:49","slug":"former-kmc-ceo-testifies-on-payment-approvals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/former-kmc-ceo-testifies-on-payment-approvals","title":{"rendered":"Former KMC CEO Testifies on Payment Approvals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Former Chief Executive Officer of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), Sainabou Martin Sonko, has told the Local Government Commission of Inquiry that during her tenure, she could not authorize payments without the knowledge and approval of Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda.<\/b><\/p>\n

Testifying before the commission on Thursday, Martin Sonko explained that nearly every financial approval required her to consult the mayor directly, even when documents had already been transmitted through the council\u2019s official mailing system.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce it is received, I would go and consult him, especially if he has minutes on these documents, because sometimes it is difficult to read his handwriting,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

The former CEO further revealed that Mayor Bensouda often wrote \u201capproved\u201d on payment documents, occasionally specifying amounts. She added that it was routine for her to report to the mayor\u2019s office each morning for briefings, during which the day\u2019s activities and pending matters were discussed.<\/p>\n

Martin Sonko also highlighted specific payments, including those made to General Procurement Services Limited. She alleged that the mayor instructed her to process payments for this company and other contractual obligations of the council.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of several payments that were just bombarded on me as CEO during my time at the council,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Gambia. Former Chief Executive Officer of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), Sainabou Martin Sonko, has told the Local Government Commission of Inquiry that during her tenure, she could not authorize payments without the knowledge and approval of Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda. Testifying before the commission on Thursday, Martin Sonko explained that nearly every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":85947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-85948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer KMC CEO Testifies on Payment Approvals - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Chief Executive Officer of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), Sainabou Martin Sonko, has told the Local Gov ...\" \/>\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\/former-kmc-ceo-testifies-on-payment-approvals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former KMC CEO Testifies on Payment Approvals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Chief Executive Officer of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), Sainabou Martin Sonko, has told the Local Gov ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/former-kmc-ceo-testifies-on-payment-approvals\" \/>\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=\"2025-09-13T15:32:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-13T17:29:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/09\/sm_1757771908.638758.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"636\" \/>\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=\"1 minute\" \/>\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\/former-kmc-ceo-testifies-on-payment-approvals#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/former-kmc-ceo-testifies-on-payment-approvals\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Former KMC CEO Testifies on Payment Approvals\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-13T15:32:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-13T17:29:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/former-kmc-ceo-testifies-on-payment-approvals\"},\"wordCount\":226,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/former-kmc-ceo-testifies-on-payment-approvals#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/09\/sm_1757771908.638758.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/former-kmc-ceo-testifies-on-payment-approvals#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/former-kmc-ceo-testifies-on-payment-approvals\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/former-kmc-ceo-testifies-on-payment-approvals\",\"name\":\"Former KMC CEO Testifies on Payment Approvals - 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