By Buba Gagigo
The Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) is dismayed at the alleged act of issuance of faked KMC trade licences and warned people involved to desist from the illegal act.
In a press release sent out earlier today, the council laid out its findings and enumerated ways to acquire authentic trade licences.
“Kanifing Municipal Council has learned with dismay about a fraudulent act of issuance of a fake KMC trade licence. The Council regrets to inform the public about the inauthenticity of the said trade license and point to the fact that such an act is highly illegal and can attract grave penalties for those involved” the council said through a press release on Wednesday
The council explains that the said alleged fake licence doesn’t have the signature of the Mayor and went on to explain the two ways that can be used to pay for a trade Licence invoice;
“The fake licence doesn’t have the signature of the Mayor and the person did not pay to the Cashier and thus, did not receive a receipt. There are only two ways to pay for your Trade Licence Invoice. Either at KMC Offices with the Cashier, or you use one of our partner banks (Agip Bank, GTBank, and Megabank). These are the only ways to pay for a licence. In either case, you will be given a receipt. You take the receipt to the Licensing Office in KMC (nowhere else), and you will be issued a trade licence after all approvals have been done” -the release continued.
The council explains that an authentic trade licence must bear the signatures of the Lord Mayor and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with their official stamps.
“The Mayor may be deputised by the Deputy Mayor, or for the CEO, the Deputy CEO or Director of Admin can sign. The fake licence did not have both of these signatures. If you are worried about whether you have a fake licence please report to Council for clarification. KMC urges the public to follow the due course of obtaining a legal trade licence from the municipality. We warn any person engaging in an illegal act of forgery, or tampering with these documents, that they will face the law. We are writing to all Embassies and High Commissions in The Gambia to inform them about how to detect a fraudulent Trade Licence”. The release ends.