The tens of thousands of people within the municipal boundaries of KMC have
long endured high taxes, outrageously lousy services that is characterized by
mound high  and fetid garbage dumps, poor or non existent drainage, pump
water or even the barest of local gov't services. It has been that way for a
long time, the only difference is perhaps it has been exacerbated by the
people currently running it. The issue is and has always revolved around
greedy, corrupt and utterly dishonest entrenched bureaucracy consisting of
people who have made careers out of simply taking a constant revenue stream
in the millions of dalasis to line their pockets.What comes to the public's
notice is the brazen acts of grafts such as the cases being recounted before
the 'commission of enquiry.' If a car park revenue collector operating out of
a scruffy little office can with what seems to be remarkable ease just make
phantom deposits of hundreds of thousands of Dalasis while diverting the
money to his and associates pockets strikes you as malfeasance of the worst
kind; then what do you realistically think is the extent of the graft at
KMCas a whole? Replete with the human equivalent of leeches latched on to the
back of tax payers, the whole bureaucracy can safely be called corruption
itself. I would venture to say most of the revenue collected does not make it
to the coffers of the municipality in the first place, and what little comes
in is further pilfered through scams such as inflated contracts and outright
theft. They have been buying pencils for D60 a piece. The level of corruption
is systemic and endemic. Consequently even if the world's best management
consultants are brought in to put in place mechanisms to stem the tide
corruption, it would fail unless it is accompanied by a whole new slate of
people coupled with judicial reforms that severely punishes corruption and
embezzlement. If the same people are left in place, they would quickly evolve
a way to defeat any reform that may pose a hindrance to their graft and since
any improved system would rely on people to execute, it is certain that they
would succeed.
     As a remedy I would suggest the following for the next gov't:
 1-Introduce legislation as part of an overall gov't reform effort that would
severely punish embezzlement. As things stand now if you steal millions of
Dalasis, you can at most expect to spend a few years in jail. The legislation
should contain language that would direct the police to put together a
financial fraud unit charged with investigating corruption, money laundering
and associated crimes such as tax evasion. With trained accountants, auditors
and good detectives, this unit would be constantly on the prowl and would
hence be able forestall some of these egregious thefts before they add up.
With a constant threat of a severe jail sentence and the prowling eyes of a
strong police unit, stealing the tax payers money would henceforth be a risky
undertaking. No society can afford nurturing it's thieves. For far too long,
thieves are the one's who have prospered in The Gambia. If a vegetable
gardener does months of back breaking work and comes to Serrekunda market and
pays taxes for the privilege of being able to sell her stuff, why should her
tax money go to line the pockets of thieves?
2-Remove the entire bureaucracy at KMC and restructure it so that the elected
chairman would preside over a functional office that is able to honestly
collect the revenue and deliver the municipal services for which those taxes
are paid. The management and accounting procedures should not only be apar
with accepted norms, they should be open and verifiable. Get a municipal
website and post revenue projections, budgets, on going projects and all the
public policy issues within the municipality for the tax payers to see and
monitor. This would allow the elected chairman to set and follow his agenda
and be held accountable for both success and failures. This would markedly
increase service efficiency and reduce corruption as contract bidding's and
purchases, two areas that are currently rife with corruption would be open
and verifiable.
A well run KMC can make our nations biggest municipality a better place. It
has the requisite tax base to deliver good services and attract business. It
won't happen under the current administrative architecture or with the people
running it. It is a den of thieves with people who would fight tooth and nail
to keep it just the way it is. They actively lobby to forestall even routine
administrative rotations that would transfer them to other positions within
the gov't. They long concluded stealing can safely and easily be done at KMC.
They have to be removed.
Karamba

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