Presidency Minister Mod K. Ceesay Dismisses Calls for Refund of D3.6M Spent on President’s Mother’s Trip to Dakar

Mod K Ceesay, Minister for Presidency 

By Fatou Sillah 

Mod K. Ceesay, Minister for the Presidency, has dismissed public calls for a refund of D3.6 million disbursed for a trip related to President Adama Barrow’s mother’s medical check-up in Dakar, asserting that the funds were used appropriately and represent a legitimate government expenditure.

“The question of refund does not even arise. It is a legitimate expenditure and will be paid.” Minister Ceesay stated during an interview with Peter Gomez. “Now, that, the UDP would choose to pick this kind of issue and go publicly about it. I think it’s just a distraction over recent relations happening with respect to BCC and KMC Councils. And the public should not be fooled about it. Nothing, I repeat, is wrong with the expenses made in respect of this particular trip. Like I said, the officer and the drivers were entitled to be paid,” he said. 

Ceesay confirmed the authenticity of the leaked document detailing the expenditure, but expressed concern over the breach of protocol, emphasizing that the document was restricted.

“the letter is genuine, The letter is real. And it’s condemnable, the action of whoever leaked the document, because it’s a restricted letter that shouldn’t have gone out in the way it went out. We are checking, and it’s a grave misconduct, On the statement, it’s unfortunate. Having to discuss the privacy of a very old woman, That deserves respect at the highest level,” he said.

Clarifying the amount involved, the Minister said that only D1.4 million of the D3.6 million was directly related to the trip in question and that the funds were allocated to the accompanying security personnel, including two drivers and a chaperone. He stressed that no funds were spent on medical expenses or personal allowances for the President’s mother.

“First, let me just clarify, of the 3.6 million, only about 1.4 was in respect of this particular trip. And it’s paid to officers accompanying the old woman. With respect to security, a chaperones, and two drivers so, nothing is spent in respect of medical bill or per diem to the old lady. 

“That is largely the responsibility of the president, He has taken care of that. And these officers are their entitlement. They have work to do. And they have been paid for their duty carry out And nothing else,” He Said. 

Responding to questions about the remaining funds, Minister Ceesay explained that the D3.6 million was a block request covering multiple unrelated official trips.

“The remainder of the money was, as you can see in the letter, it was a block request. For multiple unrelated trips, they were on account of similar trips, like air tickets and per diems. You had requested this particular trip which comprised of like I said, the old woman, And the security details and drivers. But, of course, the Secretary-General is stated there. Other officers are also there. That was also part of the request for cash allocation,” He Said. 

He also dismissed claims that the money was spent on airfares, noting that the entourage traveled by road and the funds were solely for per diems.

“This is not an airfare. This was a vehicle. I’m saying that the payments were in respect to per diems only, paid for two drivers, the chaplain, and two other security personnel.

Regarding the leak, Ceesay acknowledged that such incidents have occurred since 2017, and emphasized the need to enforce ethics and professionalism within the civil service.

“To instill discipline in the civil service takes a lot of things. It takes ethics and professionalism to be part of our code of conduct for public officials. If you have an officer with huge responsibility, who has access to information, whatever he wants to do, he will do it. But, like we always say, 100 days for the thief, one day for the master. It should not be encouraged.

“It’s unprofessional because you’re not only embarrassing yourself, the government, but the state. You are not doing this to embarrass the government or the President. Actually, in most instances, it is your own country that you are hurting more,” He Said. 

When asked if the leak could be politically motivated or linked to the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), the Minister responded cautiously.

“Any good UDP-ian would not do this. This officer who did this has access to the details of the records, and he knows that nothing is adversely wrong. He has access to the details of this record, and as a professional, he should be guided by that, by the code of conduct, but knowing what he knows, having access to the information and the details, he probably thinks this is just basically an attempt to mislead and misinform. So he has a motive, which is rather unfortunate,” He said. 

Minister Ceesay concluded by confirming that a formal investigation has been launched to identify the individual responsible for the leak.