By Fatou Sillah
The Mayor of Banjul City Council, Rohey Malick Lowe, has defended the expenditure of over D100,000 (approximately €1,300) on curtains for the Mayor’s office, following allegations of financial mismanagement by Maxim Donck, the newly appointed Alderman of the City of Ostend.
Donck accused the Banjul City Council of misusing EU-funded Banjul-Ostend project funds for office renovations, including the purchase of curtains and hosting a retreat. However, Mayor Lowe refuted these claims, insisting that the funds were spent transparently and for legitimate purposes.
“The project bought curtains for the office of the mayor for 100,000. It is not hidden. It’s on paper. When we were coming here, this was the time when their mayor was coming, so we didn’t have money to move. It was very difficult, so we have to pitch to partners and together with Rafela and the EU project. The only thing they did was to buy the curtains, and they spent about 1,300 euros, I think, to do the curtains in the mayor’s site,” She Said.
She further clarified that additional office furniture and support were provided by other partners, with Rafela alone contributing over D1 million for furnishings.
“So the rest, Raffela came in, and I think spent about 1 million for the furniture and other partners also came in and helped. So it was not as there was something that was hidden, sealed in an envelope” She Said.
Mayor Lowe also stated that they do not mismanage EU funds, and addressed Donck’s allegation that their retreat was a waste of funds.
“What he alleged is that the staff of the project went to retreat, he said it’s a waste of money. It’s a waste of funds for Ostend, for the Banjul project team to go on a retreat. So this is black and white on paper. I cannot say it is something that we’re hiding,” She Said.