In my view, President Barrow does not need a foundation and or a movement, and to have both must cause unacceptable and unnecessary flow of distractions.
President Barrow already has a foundation which I will call “Building a Just and Prosperous Gambia Foundation”. This is the Foundation we elected him to work on, so he should have no time and no business setting up another foundation/movement or encourage anyone to set up any foundation or movement in his name while in office.
Some questions for the Barrow Youth Movement and Foundation:
If the President’s wife, Madam Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow wishes to set up a Foundation, I think it is important and proper that she is knowledgeable about setting up foundations and that she must ensure that she has people working on the Foundation who are knowledgeable, e.g., on how to manage a Foundation, and how to legally raise funds to support the Foundation’s work.
It seems that the public deserves a better explanation of how and why Madam Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow Foundation (FaBB) accepted the reported $752,594.42(D36,123,000) into the Foundation’s UK Guaranty Trust Bank account in 2017 from TBEA Co. Ltd (Chinese Company that is reported to manufacture power transformers and develop transmission projects) and the subsequent mysterious bank transactions from the Foundation’s Guaranty Trust Bank (UK) Limited London Bank account into a Portuguese Bank Account, Novo Banco to supposedly charter a flight to China using White Airways (Portuguese Charter Airline in Porto Salvo).
It should be a concern that these seemingly dodgy financial transactions are linked to the President’s household. Could Madam Bah-Barrow and her husband be abusing the office they occupy?
For us to be told by the FaBB Foundation’s Vice Chairperson, Fatou Ceesay, that such questionable money transfer(s) would be investigated by the Foundation’s Board of Directors (insiders) will be an exercise drenched in futility. I suppose they want to use the “expertise” in-house to investigate self. Hopefully the gullibility genes will be in full swing when Foundation’s Board of Directors report their findings and they will be believed.
We need to know the truth about the financial transactions of the FaBB Foundation. It is very doubtful that the Foundation’s Board of Directors will answer the following questions, but they are listed below:
You probably recall the donation of some money by “anonymous” donors through the government of Saudi Arabia to Gambian pilgrims this year.
Without getting into the logistics of how “anonymous” individual(s) make donations to their government for onward payment to another government’s pilgrims, how and why would a government that claims that it shall deliver good governance by being accountable expose itself to such dodgy transactions? What does this say about our government?
The relevance of mentioning this here is that this government does not seem to have the knack for judging and avoiding (strategic)weaknesses; they seem clueless on what resources to take or not to take which may be a good fuel for mistrust.
I think it is plausible that the Barrow household could be funding, in part, their supposed foundations using some of the donations from such “anonymous” donor(s), for favours which may not be in the national interest.
Further, the Barrow Youth Movement and Foundation and the FaBB Foundation may also lend themselves very well to pilfering from the public purse.
To avoid a national embarrassment, the Barrow Youth Movement and Foundation and the FaBB Foundation must be shut down immediately and Parliament must not allow any such Movement or Foundation to be set up by them or by anyone in their name.
Given what we know already – from the previous and current governments, the CRC may need to consider whether a serving President or anyone in the President’s household needs a Foundation/Movement.
We urge the Commissioners on the CRC to consider their legacy and do the right thing for The Gambia.
Quote: “Madam Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow Foundation (FaBB) accepted the reported $752,594.42(D36,123,000) into the Foundation’s UK Guaranty Trust Bank account in 2017 from TBEA Co. Ltd (Chinese Company….)
Aha!! So, we now know why Golden Leaf, the sea polluting fish factory in Gunjur, is almost untouchable and unfazed by all the campaign against it.
It’s the promise of raw cash from China that is carted off into dubious dealings and, probably, into some off shore accounts or private investment ventures.
The CRC should not just consider prohibiting sitting presidents or their spouses from establishing foundations, it must recommend its inclusion in the new Constitution.
The foundation and youth movement are nothing but an avenue through which public funds and/Or potential public funds can be disappeared into private pockets.
We must continue to raise our voices and demand that we have a Constitutional Clause which prohibits this practice. We don’t need it at this juncture of our rebuilding efforts and endeavours to create a Gambia worthy of the sacrifices made by many.
To be proud of one’s country to me, means to be proud of the sets of minds of one’s leaders and also that of the fellow citizens’. On that basis, what would be my answer when asked; are you proud of the Gambia? My answer definitely would be NO. Super optimists, and patriots without a wee bit of an idea what it means to be patriot, will take me to task for such a view of my own country though.
The “Barrow Foundation” or whatever, is a sham and betrayal of oath of office, and his wife’s FaBB, a FaBBulous Ocean Gate Scandal. She only sounds like a Yayikompin who has a grab on her opportunity to be branded in the harp Praise Songs, a “Yaabagh” and brand people like me as “Ya’ anyaan”. The mentally hoodwinked Gambian, is always likely to come to ferociously defend a president or a first lady because someone made such a comment. Does anything makes a difference in the major opposition camps or those posed as opposition on Facebook or other social media platforms? Absolutely nothing but, devouring the respect of mothers and fathers with bile vulgarity. I may not be as current in the Gambia but I surely do have rapports with all cross sections of the Gambian society abroad. I am just like anyone of them myself but the one little good I am able to step forward with is: I know I need some shed of light in my thinking capacity to be able to establish the right sets of thinking in me, with regards to good citizenry. I may not be that established citizen who can employ Gambians privately but in my opinion, there are a million ways to be a good citizen and among those ways is- establishing the right sets of minds.
A small country, the majority of whose youth seem illiterate and socially miseducated seeing their behaviors and listening to their kind of reasoning on political affairs, an area that many Gambians vigorously have made a favorite hangout through Internet lately. How comes people on Facebook and other social media have no genuine opinions neither abilities to engage each other in meaningful and healthy debates but mostly red alert, to jump at elderly mothers and fathers of those they disagree with, elders some of whom may not even be alive. I am not swerving from the topic not even for an inch, but indeed expressing my own views of what some would refer to as “Gambian-ness” and its real backwash.
Dr. Janneh you have made good points here as usual. And Bax, “Aha” So, we now know why Golden Leaf …..” Absolutely! FaBBulous Ocean Gate Scandal! But No. You know what Barrow and his wife will say to criticism of these sort?? Enemies of The Barrow Administration!! That’s how criticism benefits most Gambians; they rather be counterpoised to criticism to vindicate themselves rather than learning from them to help themselves prevail with common good and right that we expect of the leaders. When the play corruption as a game and can’t handle the proportionate amount of criticism, they’ll say “no man is perfect” or “we are only human”. But of course we don’t call us animals even if we scientifically are… We call us Human Beings! Leaders and public office holders shouldn’t say, “we are not perfect”, or “we are only human” when they happen to do the worst in public offices… There are better things to say or do as leaders and public office holders in such situations far much more human than, “we are not perfect” or “we are only human”…