Questions continue to fly around about the credibility of the former Gambian minister Abubacarr Marie “Ba” Tambedou to seek a role in the ICC as a judge.
The revelations by The Republic of allegations of gross abuse of office, corruption and nepotism against Tambadou in the sale of the assets of the former Gambian dictator are still issues of passionate public discourse in The Gambia.
Marie “Ba” has found himself in the storm of public criticism following The Republic’s revelations that the assets of the former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh were allegedly disposed of by officials of the Barrow administration to friends, family and themselves “at prices only a fraction” of their value.
The Gambia government spearheaded the sale of Jammeh’s assets as per the recommendation of a commission set up to investigate the financial dealings of the former president and his close associates.
According to The Republic, only $23,716,725 has been “accrued from the sale of Jammeh’s 35 real estate holdings, including a vehicle garage, livestock, five aircraft, 458 vehicles, 197 tractors, shares in four companies, dividend payments from three companies, and valuable items found at his Dunes Resort and Casino”.
The Republic reported that these assets were frozen by high court judge Justice Amina Saho-Ceesay in 2018 at the request of Abubacarr Marie “Ba” Tambedou following which, Justice Saho-Ceesay “appointed Augustus Prom as the Receiver”.
“Without the knowledge of the court, Tambadou reportedly sacked Prom and subsequently hired another firm, Alpha Kapital Advisory LP, tasking it to dispose of the assets of Yahya Jammeh. Alpha Kapital is a partnership owned by Alpha Barry and Abdoulie Barry, which was registered on September 21,2017, about two months after the investigation into the finances of the former dictator Jammeh. Alpha is a chartered accountant who, sources say, is a close friend of former justice minister Tambadou, a claim Tambadou denies,” The Republic further reported. Tambadou was quoted as saying that Alpha Kapital was hired by a ministerial committee, comprising himself, Hamat Bah and Musa Drammeh.
The Republic’s report offered a grim reading into how Jammeh’s assets were allegedly sold by functionaries of the Barrow administration to friends, family and themselves at paltry prices. It also highlighted how Alpha Kapital made millions of dalasi from the sale of Jammeh’s assets.
Many Gambians told JollofNews that they found the revelations in The Republic’s report about Ba “utterly reprehensible and callous.
“I found above accounts to be barbaric and utterly despicable! Is this the guy nominated to be ICC judge? What a shame and tragedy,” one of our interlocutors commented.
So, the question is: Will Abubacarr Marie “Ba” Tambedou go ahead with his ICC-judge bid amid the avalanche of allegations of impropriety against him with regards to the assets of a man, who is a potential candidate for ICC prosecution?
