If at all her husband doesn’t give two hoots about her battered public image and the ramifications of actions linked to her, First Lady Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow’s children should give two monkeys about them.
Like the Lady Chilel and the Chief Arthur Nzeribe scandal, which came to light in the immediate aftermath of Sir Dawda’s exit in 1994, the First Lady’s children and associates should be worried for what awaits their mother after Barrow’s possible ouster this year or anytime afterwards.
For more than five years now, voices though some drowned out or silenced, have been raised about Madam Bah-Barrow for the money that went into her foundation’s account and not all of which came out. In 2018, a Chinese company TBEA reportedly wired 35 million dalasi into the account of the First Lady’s foundation. While the money was said to have been spent on an overseas trip by government officials, it remains highly suspicious that the decent amount of it is stashed in account or being used for purposes it was not intended for.
Unlike Her Excellency Madam Sarjo Mballow-Barrow, this Fatou Bah-Barrow has some huge scandals to deal with sooner or later.
While UDP official Larry Ceesay seems to be the last man standing as regards public demand for clarity on the D35 million dalasi scandal, the UDP leader Hon. Ousainou Darboe has since called for the establishment of an anti-corruption commission to probe the First Lady and her foundation for receiving, in questionable circumstances, a container-load of medication meant for the Gambian population.
For Darboe, the First Family “is living off corrupt practices and cannot fight corruption” but some Gambians are convinced that the First Lady and her foundation will one day explain to Gambians how the container that belonged to the Foundation 221 was “sold” to the FAAB Foundation without any proper valuation.
She will also explain the whereabouts of the D35 million dalasi. Interesting times ahead, indeed!
