The leader of Gambia’s newly formed Citizens’ Alliance political party Dr. Ismaila Ceesay has been accused of welfare abuse and fraud. Ceesay who holds a residency status in Scotland, has been accused of subletting his two-bedroom Council allocated Craigmiller apartment to a Gambian illegal immigrant. His namesake one xxxxxx is occupying the property. Though, no tenancy agreement has been signed between the two xxxxx.
Council houses are often allocated to low income British citizens and legal residents for an affordable rental price. The housing program is often shrouded with fraud as beneficiaries would scam the system with false claims of unemployment, and on some occasions claiming to have separated with their spouse.
According to sources familiar with the story, Dr. Ceesay is paying £ 535 pounds sterling monthly rent to the Council, but he has been charging his tenant xxxxxx £850 monthly rent. The lease papers are in Dr. Ceesay’s name.
Identity Fraud
xxxxx has also been accused of allegedly using Dr. Ceesay’s papers to work in Scotland for the past five years. He has worked for an agency called Blue Arrow for three years, before moving to Stoats, a Scottish cereal company, this medium has been reliably informed.
xxxxxx, said our sources, has been working at Stoats for the past two years. He is using Dr. Ceesay’s papers to work at Stoats. Stoats is located at 36, Dryden Rd, Edinburgh, Loanhead, EH20, 9LZ, Scotland.
The caller claimed that Ceesay has not been working while studying in Scotland. That he had allegedly given his papers to his namesake to work.
The Edinburgh caller is fearful that Dr. Ceesay could be a victim of blackmail one day—given his Presidential ambition. That he fears that Ceesay could be blackmailed by his namesake xxxx one day if he should ascends to the Presidency. Hence, that’s why he has decided to expose the story to alert the Citizens’ Alliance Party leadership and Gambians.
Denials
When contacted for comment, xxxxx, has denied renting an apartment from Dr. Ismaila Ceesay. He has also denied working at Stoats.
“I know Dr. Ismaila Ceesay. I used to meet him at naming ceremonies and at the mosque. But Dr. Ceesay hasn’t rented any apartment to me. I have never worked at Stoats. I worked at the train station—Waiverly station. I am just closing from work,” Mr. xxxx told me during a telephone conversation on Friday evening.
xxxxx has also denied using Dr. Ceesay’s papers to work at Stoats. He maintained that he has never worked at Stoats.
This medium found out that his claims were false. He was lying to us. He indeed works at Stoats. He is baker at Stoats.
When asked why anyone would falsely accuse him, xxxxxx said he doesn’t know. He claimed that he must have been mistaken with another person.
“Despite his denials, our findings revealed that xxxxx biweekly payment checks are usually deposited to Dr. Ismaila Ceesay’s Barclays bank account. His paycheck (cheque) is usually transferred to Dr. Ceesay’s account on every 15 days of the month,” the caller alleged.
Dr. Ceesay has left his debit card with his xxxxxx so that he could withdraw money from his account through the ATM,” said the caller.
Dr. Ceesay, said the caller, would use his online account to transfer money from his Barclays account to his Gambian local account. Rent payments are also made from his Barclays account, he further alleged.
xxxxx was recently quoted as having said that the account that his biweekly payments are deposited, had ran out of cash. That only £28 pounds was left in the account at some point.
He also noticed an unexpected withdrawal from the account. He was told that the gym that he attends had taken money from the account, he later found out that wasn’t true. The money was subsequently returned to the account.
xxxx used to live in Germany. He is a native of Essau. He and his wife xxxxx are living at Dr. Ceesay’s apartment.
In order to maintain his Craigmiller apartment, Dr. Ceesay and his wife have reportedly separated, callers from Scotland alleged. “Council has allocated a three-bedroom apartment to his wife, who recently gave birth to a third baby girl. She delivered her third baby at the Royal Imfarmy Hospital,” the caller further alleged.
“Dr. Ceesay was in Scotland about four weeks ago to attend his wife’s naming ceremony. Ceesay has handed his Opel (Vauxhall) car to his wife,” he added.
Contradictions
In a spirit of fair and responsible reporting, we contacted Dr. Ceesay for comment.
Dr. Ismaila Ceesay has contradicted his xxxxx claims. Dr. Ceesay told Freedom Newspaper though his party’s Spokeswoman Neneh Freda Gomez that xxxx was indeed his tenant. Though Dr. Ceesay has denied subletting any council apartment to xxxx. He said the property in question wasn’t a council property.
“I can authoritatively tell you that the allegations are baseless, and they are false. Dr. Ceesay yes owns an apartment in England, but it is not a Council flat, it is not a Council apartment and yes, he rented that apartment to some guy called xxxxx. There is nothing like Dr. Ceesay handing over ATM Card to xxxxx because xxxxxx apparently has documents and he is legally staying in England and is able to work,” Ms. Neneh Freda Gomez told this paper.
Ms. Gomez said she has seen the documentation of the property that Dr. Ceesay has rented to xxxxx.
“I have seen documentation in that regard. It is not a council apartment,” she said.
She added that prior to her contacting Dr. Ceesay, to shed light on our media query, she first discussed the matter with the Citizens’ Alliance Executive Committee. She said Dr. Ceesay has categorically denied the allegations.
Dr. Ceesay, she went on, was properly vetted before he was elected as the party’s flag bearer in the upcoming 2021 Presidential elections.
She also debunked claims suggesting that Dr. Ceesay had separated with his wife.
“Dr. Ceesay is still happily married with his wife and three beautiful girls. That is much that I can confirm to you in regards to all the allegation that you put forward,” she said.