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Belgium city mayor  vindicates Mayoress Lowe

Apr 5, 2022, 11:19 AM

The mayor of Oostende city, Bart Tommelein, who was on a state visit with his powerful delegation from Belgium last week confirmed to journalists in a joint press conference that a Gambian lady by the name of Lolly Fofana, who is claiming to be working with Oostende-Banjul EU project is false and her allegation of misappropriation of €3.2 million EU project by Rohey M. Lowe is also not true as confirmed by the external auditor’s report.

 

According to Tommelein, the Gambian lady Madam Fofana is unknown to him and that every Euro spent on EU project is accountable as the steering committee from Oostende and Banjul jointly approve every budget allocation and therefore Madam Fofana was merely spreading lies on social media for cheap popularity as she has no idea about EU project.

In a separate development, Mayor Bart has expressed his profound gratitude to his counterpart Mayoress Lowe of Banjul for the rousing welcoming accorded to him with his delegation.

The Oostend mayor said the link between Oostende city in Belgium and Banjul city is almost two decades old but this is the first time a mayor from his city is visiting Banjul through bilateral cooperation.

Mayor Bart told the journalists that 60% of his staff at the council is female, while majority of his delegation is women and also received by the first elected female mayor of Banjul, saying this all goes to show that he believes in women empowerment.

“I with my delegation were taken on conducted tour of Oostende - Banjul EU funded projects from the beautiful coconut trees planted along the Banjul beach to slow down coastal erosion, planted trees inside the city to the transplanted mangroves  as well as a  multi-purpose skill centre at Crab Island premises for the youths of Banjul”, said Mayor Bart.

Mayor Bart Tommelein said once completed, the multiple purpose skill centre would have a recording studio for musicians, radio station, a classroom to teach youths on electronic gadgets repair with satellite installation and other skill jobs for the youths of Banjul.

He said they would expect mayor of Banjul with her delegation to pay a visit to them in Oostende in the coming months.

On her part, Mayoress of Banjul expressed her profound gratitude and thanked Mayor Bart and his delegation for not only the visit but also for setting the record straight about the corruption allegation labelled against her by Madam Lolly Fofana.

The lord mayor said she is informing Gambians that she is not a signatory to the EU project and that a steering committee has been set up to run the project.

“Burr Banjul” has called on the youths of Banjul to take ownership of the multiple purpose skill training centre once completed to be ready to build their capacity in various skills jobs. 

Source: Bayo News Network