Alagie Sowe, former Jabang Ward Councilor
By Buba Gagigo
Alagie Sowe, the former Councilor for Jabang Ward and Chairperson of the Brikama Area Council’s Agriculture Sub-Committee, has conceded that the committee failed to register any significant development or achievements during his tenure.
Mr. Sowe made this admission during his testimony before the ongoing Local Government Commission last Monday.
“We should normally focus on development like assisting vendors and other requests that are brought to our table, but unfortunately for the Agriculture Sub Committee, we didn’t achieve any development or achievement. The reason is, just like the former CEO of Brikama Area Council Mam Sait Jallow used to say, agriculture is not much considered or focused on because we don’t have anything from them. So that’s why we don’t consider them much also,” he said.
He revealed that although a budget allocation of approximately D500,000 was earmarked for agriculture in the first year, the funds were never utilized.
“So we came up with an idea to visit some women’s gardens and other places to see what to do. Because in our committee, we have the farmer representative, cattle representative, vendors representative, and women’s representative. I always felt we could have come up with ideas to see what we could do for West Coast, but unfortunately, it has never happened. If my memory can serve me well, we had only met two or three meetings in the five years. I went up to the stage where I wanted to resign as the chairman because of what Mam Sait Jallow told me. He (Mam Sait Jallow, former CEO of BAC) had powers because if you want to conduct a tour it has to go through him,” he said.
Regarding the discontinuation of meetings, Sowe mentioned that the council prioritized capital projects and diverted agriculture funds to those projects.
“So the following year there was no budget for Agriculture. When I didn’t see any budget for Agriculture I asked them why, they said it was because the budget was there, but it was not used,” Sowe told the commission.
Ultimately, Mr. Sowe acknowledged the failure of the agriculture committee under his leadership. He also admitted that it was unfair for some councilors to serve five years without any funds for development projects. Furthermore, he disclosed receiving a ‘Salibo’ gift from the council twice a year, though he believed it was a token of appreciation for their services.
Lamin S. Darboe, the former nominated Councilor representing the chiefs at the Brikama Area Council, also admitted to receiving the ‘Salibo,’ stating that he was unaware at the time that it was improper.
“I just came to know it was abnormal, and it should not be, but I was a recipient of it twice a year. I can remember there was no audit query that it should not be. If I had known, I would not have received it to save my integrity,” he said.