Jambang has revealed disturbing details about how council funds went unaccounted for under the former finance director’s watch, raising concerns about transparency and accountability in the council’s financial operations.
Jambang, who has been working at BCC since 2019, stated that she regularly collected trade license fees and followed standard procedures by submitting collections to the council, then to audit for verification before handing them over to the cashier for receipting. However, a troubling incident in November 2021 put her at the center of a D47,000 suppression case—an amount that was allegedly inflated due to an "error" during entry.
She recounted that on November 11, 2021, she was late in submitting collections because the cashier’s office had already closed. She decided to take the money home for safekeeping. However, she received a call from the former Director of Finance, who instructed her to bring the money to him. Trusting his authority, she complied, handing over the funds without being issued a receipt. The director, in turn, gave her D400 as an overtime payment and assured her he would submit the money to the cashier.
However, when an investigation was later launched, it was revealed that the cashier had no record of receiving the funds. Jambang, who had initially believed the money was accounted for, was accused of suppressing council revenue. When she confronted the finance director, he admitted he would “pay it back,” but no immediate action was taken.
As the situation escalated to the administrative level , she said she was summoned to a meeting with the Lord Mayor, council officials, and the cashier. During this meeting, the Mayor questioned why funds were handed to the director instead of the cashier, emphasizing that only the cashier had the right to receive revenue. At this point, she was told that the finance director denied ever receiving cash, contradicting Jambang’s claims.
Following this, a senior official, Batchilly, suggested deducting the missing amount from employees’ salaries, a move Jambang strongly opposed, calling it unfair.
She said, she was informed that the missing funds had been refunded and was receipted.
In a similar development, three other revenue collectors at Banjul City Council (BCC) recounted on alleged financial irregularities, including cash suppression, missing receipts, and inconsistencies in revenue collection processes.
Jojo Sanyang, a former revenue collector, admitted to cash suppression issues but maintained she submitted money to the cashier. A case involving D4,900 saw her called by the fraud squad, though she insisted the cashier, Oumie Darboe, was responsible for the missing funds.
Other collectors, including Ndey Ida Gaye and Matarr Ndow, highlighted systemic issues. Gaye admitted to sometimes submitting cash without immediate receipts, attributing it to errors and procedural lapses. Ndow, who worked on revenue demand notes, revealed that funds were occasionally submitted to the Director of Finance for "safe keeping" instead of the designated cashier.
