An attack of calumny and smear campaign has been launched by a so-called activists against the hardworking Kambia District Chief Administration has boomeranged following a press release issued by Council of Paramount Chiefs of the district and Kambia District Council who set the record straights by debunking the allegations.
After the audio which went viral on Social media aiming to tarnish the image of the Kambia District Council, the Council of Paramount Chiefs summoned an emergency meeting on Monday 21st August, 2023 to deliberate on the issues and resolved in discrediting the toxic and unhealthy postings on social media emanating from a purported Civil society activists/journalists.
The Paramount Chiefs described the social media audio as unfounded, baseless and full of hatred aiming to tarnish the hard-earned image of the Council under the stewardship of Chief Administrator. They strongly condemned the social media audio messages in its entirety, and stating how they are deeply concerned about inciteful posts especially in the area of calling people not to pay taxes and to resist all tax collectors.
The Paramount Chiefs said in as much as it is the right of every citizens to access information from any public sector as contained in the 2013 right to access Act, but equally so, this right must go with responsibility and condemned any form of falsehood, and therefore calling on the competent authorities to institute all possible measures to verify information peddling on the media.
The Paramount Chiefs commended the leadership of the Kambia District Council and implored them to continue to exhibit high degree of transparency and accountability in the discharge of their functions. They also concluded by registering their fullest support for the Kambia District Council and all MDAs in the district.
In addition, the Kambia District Council debunked the allegations levied against them, describing it as unfounded and far from the truth.
“The attention of the Kambia District Council has been drawn to a series of unfounded and misleading insinuations and allegations suggesting massive corruption, misuse of office/power and lack of transparency in the operation of Council. These statements are being circulated on many social media platforms with special reference to the KAMBIA DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM, by some individuals who referred to themselves as “indigenes of Kambia”.
The Council is concerned and feels disturbed at the level of tribal and regional rhetoric and inciting statements making the rounds on social media against the Chief Administrator and some members of staff of the Kambia District Council on the KAMBIA DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM”
Setting the record straights, the Council said that the staff of the various councils are not recruited base on their Political, ethnic, or regional background.
it is therefore mischievous and ill-motivated for anyone to judge the conduct of any Council staff based on their ethnic or regional background.
The Council wishes to make the following clarifications on various allegations circulating on social media platforms:
Allegation 1 : “That Kambia District Council is not transparent and full of corruption”. We wish to clearly state that the Council being a public institution is committed in serving the people of Kambia, accounting to the public and other gate keeper institution. This has been demonstrated in the Council open door policy to always address concerns raised by the public.
Also, the Council has always been subjected to regular monitoring, auditing and review of processes by accountability institutions, such as the MoF, ACC, Audit Services etc.
The Council therefore encourages any member of the public to present any concern, if they believe council has not been working in the interest of the public in accordance with the various legal provisions.
Allegation 2: “That the Chief Administrator/Council is selling right-of-way”. The Kambia District Council has not in any point sell the right- of-way nor did the Chief Administrator at any point in time engaged in any form of sale of the right-of- way.
The principal mandate for the allocation of the right –of- way falls directly under the purview of the SLRA.
However, Part V section 21 of the Local Government Act of 2022 gives the Council the overall mandate to coordinate and manage all development activities in the locality by collaborating with other Government MDAs.
As it relates to the right of way, the Council has been closely working with the SLRA District engineer to properly manage the issues around right-of -way and that has been limited to lease and NOT sale.
Allegation 3: The Chief Administrator is cutting down the number of stores under the EU project.
The project is implanted under strict guidance and supervision by the EU/PMU and key activities such as procurement are always approved by the EU/PMU, therefore, there is no way the Chief Administrator can solely decide to modify any activity in the project agreement without the approval of the EU/PMU. With respect to the actual number of stores to be constructed, even the design and BOQ was done by a consultant hired by the EU/PMU. This issue has also been explained by the EU/PMU in several engagements with the current CSM and NSA leadership in Kambia.
It is important to note that the role of the media and Civil Society Organizations in governance structure is to compliment the effort of the government, but when a Civil Society Organizations and journalists start inciting the public against state institution that could be a course for concern.
The Kambia District Council finds the allegations levied against them as very disturbing and has posed a setback to the revenue generation of the entity.
It is worth noting that the Kambia district council over the past three year has made remarkable improvement in revenue generation and service delivery which has been widely acknowledged by key state institutions.
