Tax payers furious over City Council’s continuous rip offs
The Mayor’s failure to account for the sum of Le 12.187 billion, a said amount the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning claimed to have remitted into the local council account for the Fiscal Year 2010-2011 has raised eyebrows in different quarters of the capital Freetown. Abu Bakarr Sulaiman Tarawally has the details.
Residents in the capital Freetown are lethally against paying this year’s local tax levy of Le 5,000 per person, advancing excuses that they can’t continue paying dues to a council that is not accountable to its tax payers.
Following the latest outburst of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Samura Kamara that he did remit the said sum of Le 12.187 billion into the local council account, many, including councilors working under the Mayor’s jurisdiction, have questioned his integrity by imploring the country’s anti graft agency, the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to probe him.
A cross section of councilors have voiced out their frustration with the Mayor’s continued reluctant attitude on failing to give their entitlements for the Fiscal Year running from 2009 through 2011. According to these councilors since they received half of their quotas in 2008, nothing has come such of it. Their frustrations are growing by the day as they explained that they have to fulfill various commitments in their wards and constituencies.
In the thick of these rowdy misgivings, scolding the Mayor for having usurped both his Mayoral clout and cash accrued from sales of business licenses including city rate and local tax revenue meant to actually give facelift to the city, he still keeps a big silence with the media.
However, a row of allegations has cracked the Mayor’s head, accusing him of frivolous spending. For instance he staged a crucial Morgan Heritage show that turned out to be a huge embarrassment for him. Although he promised to buy a fleet of vehicles with the proceeds accrued from the show, he still could not materialize such promises.
At this elixir of time, Sierra Leoneans are keen to know what use their monies are being put to. As in these comments, a cross section of Freetownians made it clear that they desire to know why the Mayor should continue to have field days usurping tax payers’ monies without facing justice.
It could be recalled that Mayor Herbert George Williams exploited his chances to assume the throne in a similar circumstance his predecessor, Winstanley Bankoley Johnson involved himself in.
Many have feared that the Mayor seems to escape the axe of the Anti Corruption Commission; implying such to mean that the ruling All People’s Congress is exhibiting clear evidence of selective justice in the making that is contrary of President Koroma’s expressed zero tolerance on corruption.
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