(JollofNews) – Why would Senegal’s equivalent of Gambia’s own “tycoon” Amadou Samba “GIFT” newly elected President Barrow of The Gambia “2 houses”?
Mar Thiam is Senegal’s tycoon who helped Dictator Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia to build the Banjul Airport building and the Arch 22. Barrow’s Government is yet to audit those two projects to see how much of the project money Yahya Jammeh pocketed.
So why is Mar Thiam gifting Gambia’s newly elected President 2 houses??? Is it, in the famous word of the infamous Amadou Samba, an attempt to gain access and “manage” Barrow?
Read the full article here.
This is a bribe. The giver is a crook and the receiver is naive.
Dida, any action(s) that bear a semblance of bribery and corrupt practices must be denounced loudly, quickly and in no uncertain terms.
Here’s my comment on your well timed article in the Kairo Newspaper on strategies aimed at curbing corruption.
Dida, I believe the most pertinent point that you raised on curbing corruption in The Gambia is stated below:
“For Gambia to truly develop and harness the goodwill of development partners, an effective Anti-Corruption Commission with real teeth must be established – and be allowed to work without fear or favour. The ACC and its Chairman must also be protected by the government – the risk will be similar to that faced by the IEC Chairman during the last election. As in Kenya, and in Nigeria too where the ACC Chairman has been targeted by those he was investigating, it will only be bravest Gambians who will undertake the task of fighting corruption”.
It will take sheer commitment on the part of any Gambian government to set up an ACC and see it through its mandate on account of the cultural nuances and the mindset of the Gambian population. Dida, you possibly know the inner workings of Gambian urban society as much as, if not more than I do. The majority of supposedly competent Gambians that could fill the roles of Anti-corruption Commissioners are either caught in the wave of age old Gambian naivete or Senegambian cultural mysticism (the Marabout Phenomenon). Even where security provisions and financial compensations are met, I am yet to meet a Gambian that is truly incorruptible or wouldn’t look the other when friends, family and friends become the target of probes for corruption. It it in this context that fear and favor come into play.
Also Dida, correct me on this point, but I do believe that in The Gambia that I know so well, there’s a dearth of untainted persons that can or are willing to serve on anti-corruption commissions and commissions of inquiry. In fact I dare go out on a limb to state that the majority of Gambian public servants, current and retired, are compromised in one way or the other. The private sector, with the exception of the hotel industry, offers a much better crop of untainted candidates!
Anti Corruption Commissions in The Gambia and Kenya, that I know very well, bear a common element in that the bodies don’t have teeth and even where they’re seen to have teeth at the outset, they’d be baby teeth that ultimately fall off thus rendering the commissions totally ineffective. I must add that the worst impediment to the work of ACC’s in Africa is the sheer amount of time that it take to resolve the most blatant of cases. In The Gambia and Senegal (similar cultures), corruption is built into the fabric of society and erroneously labeled NJERIGN, AMM NYAAN, BARAKO, NAFAA, FIRINGO, BETTEH (Krio), WORRSAGG and HARRJAY. So in effect, corruption is not accorded the seriousness and attention that’s called for. Instead, it is accepted as a fact of life!
The canker of corruption exists in all cultures including modern economies. However, whereas modern economies are able to absorb the nasty blows/impact of corruption, African economies CANNOT and must not condone corruption at any level as the resources involved in corrupt practices are direly needed to move the teeming disadvantaged masses out of abject poverty.
All is not lost though Dida! With better education, civic engagement, food security and a strong commitment to higher moral and ethical standards in society, we can collectively take a big bite out of the chronic and debilitating disease of corruption in Africa!
Well said Andrew, what can I add?
Everything in life is about perception. They can be used for the betterment of a people or the other way around, so lets work harder and hope for the best so that one fine day things might get better