{"id":89221,"date":"2025-11-02T06:33:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T06:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt"},"modified":"2025-11-02T07:24:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T07:24:42","slug":"mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), has described the ongoing Local Government Commission of Inquiry as a political witch hunt aimed directly at him.<\/b><\/p>\n

Speaking in a recent interview, Mayor Bensouda said he believes the sequence of events surrounding the commission demonstrates that it was established with the intent to target him and his administration.<\/p>\n

According to the mayor, tensions between KMC and the Ministry of Local Government date back to 2021, when a ministerial commission of inquiry was set up to investigate the council. He explained that KMC challenged the decision in court and won, yet the government later created an interim management committee\u2014an action the Supreme Court subsequently dissolved after another legal challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey hoped they would defeat us in the election, then we won. Then the presidential commission of inquiry came for all councils. Then I think to Gambians, everybody knows it was a witch hunt, and it was specifically targeted towards me,\u201d Mayor Bensouda stated.<\/p>\n

He alleged that prior to his appearance before the commission, a number of unfounded accusations were circulated to tarnish his reputation and damage his credibility. Most of the issues raised at the inquiry, he argued, relate to administrative procedures rather than corruption or misconduct.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe same administration appointed by the government. All it was, Talib oversaw an administration that was not following the process. Well, this is what we have been arguing for the longest time. I went to the local government select committee. I have written several letters about reforms needed to decentralize power and give mayors an executive role,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bensouda added that without executive powers, mayors cannot be held responsible for administrative lapses committed by civil servants they neither appoint nor have the power to dismiss. \u201cIf they had given us those powers and today there is an administrative issue, I can take ownership, but I cannot take ownership of an administrative issue for people I did not appoint and cannot fire,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

The mayor said he feels vindicated by the commission\u2019s proceedings, claiming no evidence of wrongdoing has been found against him despite extensive scrutiny.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been one of the most scrutinized politicians in this country\u2014perhaps the most scrutinized. I\u2019ve faced several investigations and audits, and the commission of inquiry was just the icing on the cake. Yet, not a single allegation has been proven,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When asked whether he believes the commission will be fair, Mayor Bensouda said his team is always prepared for any outcome. \u201cFor us, we always have a strategy, a political strategy, a media strategy, and a legal strategy,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the commission\u2019s outcome, Mayor Bensouda expressed strong confidence in his administration\u2019s performance. \u201cWe perform better than most councils in the history of Gambia, in my opinion, and we set the benchmark for local government. Today, looking at KMC, we set up a pace that every council is copying, and I think we have created big shoes that future councils will struggle to fill,\u201d the Mayor said.<\/p>\n

He added that his team remains unfazed by the commission\u2019s proceedings. \u201cSo we are not worried about what the commission will say or what the government will do because we are ready for any eventuality.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Gambia. Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), has described the ongoing Local Government Commission of Inquiry as a political witch hunt aimed directly at him. Speaking in a recent interview, Mayor Bensouda said he believes the sequence of events surrounding the commission demonstrates that it was established with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":89220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-89221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nMayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), has described the ongoing Local Government Commi ...\" \/>\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\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), has described the ongoing Local Government Commi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt\" \/>\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=\"2025-11-02T06:33:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-02T07:24:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/11\/sm_1762055640.402482.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\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\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-02T06:33:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-02T07:24:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt\"},\"wordCount\":566,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/11\/sm_1762055640.402482.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt\",\"name\":\"Mayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt - Gambia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/11\/sm_1762055640.402482.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-02T06:33:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-02T07:24:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), has described the ongoing Local Government Commi ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/11\/sm_1762055640.402482.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/11\/sm_1762055640.402482.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":576,\"caption\":\"Mayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\",\"name\":\"Gambia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt - Gambia","description":"Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), has described the ongoing Local Government Commi ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt","og_description":"Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), has described the ongoing Local Government Commi ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt","og_site_name":"Gambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-11-02T06:33:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-02T07:24:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/11\/sm_1762055640.402482.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Mayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt","datePublished":"2025-11-02T06:33:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-02T07:24:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt"},"wordCount":566,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/11\/sm_1762055640.402482.jpg","keywords":["Gambia"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt","name":"Mayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt - Gambia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/11\/sm_1762055640.402482.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-02T06:33:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-02T07:24:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), has described the ongoing Local Government Commi ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/11\/sm_1762055640.402482.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/11\/sm_1762055640.402482.jpg","width":1024,"height":576,"caption":"Mayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-calls-local-government-commission-witch-hunt#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mayor Bensouda Calls Local Government Commission Witch Hunt"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/","name":"Gambia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}