(JollofNews) – Nko, any resident lawyer around? Needing help. Are the people appearing before the Janneh Commission “witnesses” or “respondents” or alleged offenders? Are they the ones being investigated or Yaya Jammeh and his financial dealings?
Chapter XVIII of the Constitution deals with Commissions of Inquiry. S. 206 stipulates:
“A witness before a Commission of Inquiry shall be entitled to the same immunities and privileges as if he or she were a witness in proceedings before the High Court”
And if any one who has aided and abetted Yaya or misused his or her powers or office or public trust thinks he or she is off the hook yet, better think again. According to S.200(1), the President can/may set up a Commission to Inquire into “the conduct of any public officer; the conduct of any District Chief or Alkalo; the conduct or management of any department or authority of the public service or any local government authority or public enterprise; or any matter whatever arising in the Gambia in which an inquiry would, in the opinion of the President, be of the public good”
So who is safe?
Would be great to see a Commission set up to inquire into the dealings and workings of Yaya’s instruments of torture re the army, police, NIA and Prisons (and the Immigration. The bodyguards used to be men and women in immigration uniform). And the PMO- most of the letters of those unnecessary, illegal firings/dismissals emanated from it). And SSHFC. And the Judiciary itself, Yaya’s hand maiden- all those convictions on trumped up charges. And all of them….. Yaya alone wasn’t our problem. He had willing hand maidens and co- conspirators still occupying high posts in the New Gambia. Some of them may still have “blood” on their hands ….. Or may be no other Commission is needed. Karma will catch up with all of them. The evil that men and women do catches up with them here on earth.
I fear, there will be more Commissions of Inquiry upon more Commissions of Inquiry. Heck, the way the current Commission of Inquiry is Operating, there may be a Commission of Inquiry to Enquire into the Commission of Inquiry. The reported Unjustified “Highway Robbery of the Gambia Treasury” by the exorbitant or indefensible Pay Raise of 500, 000 or Half a Million Dalasis for each of the Four or more Commissioners is one example of Malfeasance. I thought the Gambian Treasury is Empty? Where is all these money coming from? Can we afford other Inquiries at such a prohibitive rate of “Compensation”? The Commissioners, the President, the Barrow Cabinet and Legislative Branch need to be Frugal and Financially Accountable. They should be Sensitive and work at all times to be Financially Sustainable in a Transparent manner that Benefits and Makes a difference to the Gambians daily lives. Every butut counts and Should be spent carefully and in a way that Benefits the greatest numbers of Gambians and not the Few. After all, they are sitting on a Commission of Inquiry of former President Yaya Jammeh’s Financial Malfeasance. A Malfeasance that robbed the Treasury for Selfish and Self-gain. It would be a Comedy Show in a Paradoxical way, if the Current Commission of Inquiry ends up being the Subject of a Commission of Inquiry. Private Legal Practioners’ incomes are not guaranteed and as such the Rationale and Logic alleged to have been the reason for the 500,000 Dalasis Guaranteed Pay Out to the Four or more Commissioners of Inquiry is Suspect and Potentially Ilegal. In the event, it is not Ilegal per the Co-Option and Collusion of NAMS by Commission or Omission, the Uptic in the Real World is the same. It confirms the Perception of Government Employees as being Corrupt. The “Rubber Stamp” NAMS Part in the Approval of the Pay Raise cannot make it any Acceptable or different today as it should not have been under Jammeh or Jawara Regimes. Gambia is not a Country with Dalasis to “throw around” like dust in our Streets. Now is the time for all Gambians, Men and Women, Old and Young, Within and Outside the Gambia, to come to its Aide both in Kind and through Financial Means to help Mitigate the Meager Disposable Financial Resources in the Gambia and with the Gambians. But that is, just half of the Need, Responsibilities and Mandates that those who Subscribe to the Motion above Should Commit themselves to. They need to insist on a Sustained, Transparent, Accountability from All Levels of the Gambia Government’s Bureaucracy and Individuals Designated with the Authority to Dispense, Implement and or ensure that the Beneficiaries or Projects are Positively Impacted. The Drip, Drip Toward a Flood of Malfeasance and Dubious Official Acts and Behavior Continues to erode the Confidence the Gambian People once had in the “New Gambia”. They hear about Millions of Euros and Dollars being poured into the Gambian Treasury, yet they do not feel any Significant relief or impact on their daily struggle with making ends meet. It is said, “once bitten twice shy”, but also that, “a hungry man is an angry man”. The two mantras may not be congruent. However, they all point to a State of Condition and Mind that are not encouraging variables toward National Development or Stability. Gambians and Gambia Need Financial Patriots now as they did during Jawara and Jammeh’s Regimes. All Gambian Stakeholders especially, Civil Servants Need to look in the Mirror and ask themselves, “I’m I a Financial Patriot”? “I’m I Serving the Gambian People of all Ethnic Groups and Regions”? “I’m I giving as much as I am taking”? “Is it mine to Take and Give”? If any of these questions are answered in the Negative or Potentially bothers your “Conscience” and especially, causes Dissonance with yourself image, then you need to Change your Actions and Behavior for the Sake of the Gambia and Gambians.