A new survey by Afrobarometer has revealed that more than half of Gambia’s population have rated their local government councillors as “corrupt” officials.

The survey’s key findings stated that: “one in four citizens (26%) say they contacted their local government councillor at least once during the previous year for some important problem or to give them their views.

“Almost three-fourths (73%) say they did not and about four in 10 Gambians (39%) say local government councillors ‘never’ try to listen to what citizens have to say.”

“Only 23% say they ‘often’ or ‘always’ listen. Only about one-third (36%) of Gambians say they trust their local government council 

‘somewhat’ or ‘a lot’, while a majority (61%) express ‘just a little’ or no trust at all in 

their council. 

“More than half (55%) of citizens say that ‘most’ or ‘all’ local government councillors 

are corrupt. Almost six in 10 Gambians (59%) give their local government councillor a negative performance rating, up from 30% in 2018,” the survey added.

Afrobarometer is a Pan-African survey research network based in Ghana.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba