Editorial:President's Barrow's lame response to the latest bribery scandal dogging his administration

Sidi Sanneh 

When you are in a hole, stop digging, so goes the adage but by the look of things, President Barrow seems to be doing just the opposite gauging from his response to the latest scandal dogging his administration about alleged cash payments to selected members of the National Assembly. 

Hon. Sanna Jawara, a UDP National Assembly Member for Upper Fulladu West was the first to sound the alarm by claiming that he was offered a D10,000 (equivalent to $200) from a political operative of President Barrow as gifts to help parliamentarians in difficult economic times.  It was not a one-off payment but a monthly stipend of an unspecified duration. 

According to the parliamentarian from Upper Fulladu West, he politely turned the offer down - a payment he saw as a an attempt to corrupt him and his colleagues, as he became aware that similar offers were made to other members of the National Assembly.

 Hon. Madi Ceesay, another UDP National Assembly Member representing SerreKunda West, responding to journalist questions confirmed that he too was offered and accepted the sum of D10,000 from the same political operative acting on behalf of President Barrow.  He saw no reason not to accept the money which, to him, the payment does not constitute bribery, implying that because the sum is too small to cross his self-imposed threshold to qualify as bribery.

In a characteristic style that has now become routine, a non denial denial in the form of a hastily and clumsily crafted press release rebutting bribery allegations that the State House characterized as unfounded and unsubstantiated despite confirmations from two parliamentarians that they have been offered and/or have accepted D10,000 from President Barrow. 

Contrary to presidential claims, the allegations have been substantiated.  Were parliamentarians the being enticed by the president to support him to secure the presidential nomination under the UDP banner?  If this was the purpose, the payments then present a quid pro quo condition.  Even if President Barrow was not expecting anything in return, the mere perception conveys the impression of bribery and a clear breach of the principle of separation of powers.  In this case, the executive appears to imposing its will in an attempt to interfere with the legislative independence of the legislature.

The State House press release admits that the president routinely supports individuals and groups, financially and materially, including the 57 vehicles he gifted to members of the National Assembly, the source of which has been shrouded in mystery.  To deflect a barrage of criticisms, the presidents attributed the gifts to a philanthropist who prefers to remain anonymous.  It is not the role of a president who's paid a fixed annual salary to be financially supporting individuals and groups including parliamentarians. 

The extra-budgetary activities of President Barrow pose not only a moral hazard but it is also a threat to the well established, universally applicable norms of the budget process.  Jammeh was the inventor of this surreptitious approach to public finance as a means of circumventing the budget process that distorted the public finance profile of the country rendering planning and implementing the country's economic programs difficult.  The Commission of Inquiry into Jammeh's illicit wealth serves as reminder to how damaging these surreptitious forms of extra-budgetary expenditures can be.

We have been critical of Barrow's governance style or lack thereof and his apparent inability to focus on the core reform programs, carefully delineated in the Memorandum of Understanding that led to the coalition government.  The principles set therein were, in our view, quickly abandoned.  Instead, he exchanged governing for politicking.

In outlining progress such as establishing the Constitutional Review Committee, President Barrow disputes the view that he's focused more in the politics of personal survival by trying to assure Gambians that his major preoccupation has been and continues to be "finding solutions and addressing the development needs of the people that overwhelmingly elected him into office", a claim that is not supported neither by the data nor by the mood of the general public. 

President Barrow's vision for the country is, according to the release, is to empower institutions so that they can "guarantee and protect the rights and dignity of all citizens irrespective of their political ethno-linguistic and religious differences." 

Less than forty-eight later, President Barrow's Justice Minister was out issuing warnings to journalists, non-journalists alike that and we quote: "[R]ecently, we have noticed a worrisome trend in the country and this must be addressed.  While we want to encourage a culture of tolerance and the freedom of expression,...this must not be equated with chaos or be used to tarnish the reputation of or smear innocent people."

The Justice Minister further warned that "many people rush to judgment and condemn the accused even when there is no evidence to support the allegation."  He continued, "we cannot accuse, try and condemn people, all in one scoop.  It amounts to mob justice."   He then proceeded to "remind everyone that the publication of false news is still a criminal offense in this country as upheld recently by the Supreme Court and we will not hesitate to apply the law." 

The minister's warnings were more like threats which, he says "are not intended to address any specific events as there has been too many such events in the country recently", one of the rare assertions I can readily see eye to eye on with the Honorable Minister of Justice.

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The $40 security tax that will sink tourism

The cost of a return airfare to and from Banjul International Airport will cost an additional US$40 with effect from 15th January, 2019, if the government of Adama Barrow has its way. 

In a Gambia Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) letter dated 25th September, 2018, the justification for the proposed air ticket price hike was as a result of the decision to " upgrade the security and border control system" which involves the "screening of arriving and departing travellers to ensure the safety of the air transport industry." [emphasis ours]

The GCAA was notified by either the Office of The President or the Interior Ministry that the government has "signed a contract with a security company for the implementation of the system and the new system would attract a fee."

Although the notification letter did not name the security company, we later learned that the company that provide a similar service to the Blaise Diagne International Airport in Dakar is SECURICOR.  The terms and conditions and the amount that it will cost the Gambia Government is still unknown at the time of publication.

A source told us that the "Ministry of Tourism and the GCAA had no hand in this.  The Deputy DG Civil Aviation and DG Tourism went to attend a meeting at the OP (meaning the Office of the President) and were sent home and refused entry (in)to the meeting.  Can you believe? "

The GCAA 25th September letter invited the tourism industry stakeholders to a meeting a 3rd October "consultative meeting" after all of the critical decisions, including settling for a foreign company to provide the services, have been taken.  The outcome of the meeting is unknown, but we will, in due course.

Mr. Yankuba Saidy, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President in charge of investment was appointed CEO of the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA) refused to move to the GIEPA offices but prefers to stay at State House instead.  The meeting held at State House was chaired by him which awarded the contract to SECURICOR.  It is not evident at this point, as indicated earlier, whether all the procurement rules and procedures have been adhered to, to avoid yet another SEMLEX scenario in our hands.  We will leave this aspect of the contract for another day.

For the moment, and as we have expressed in a Facebook entry a few days ago, the impact that a $40 price hike will have on tourism in the Gambia will be devastating.  It could kill whatever is left of an industry that faces numerous challenges that include but not limited to product deterioration, regional and international competition from destinations that provide tourists with more choices.

The tourism sector is struggling to return to its pre-Ebola strength (2014 - 2015) and to add $40 to the price of a return ticket will all but kill the industry.  Operator are worried and probably so are airline operators.  We have learned that GCAA was trying to propose a $4 - yes, four US dollars - hike which they are having trouble getting the support of the industry.  Government is now proposing a ten-fold increase which make little economic of financial sense.

When one considers that the proposed increase is coming at the heels of the decision by FTI, a major and influential German tour operator, to cancel its 2018 - 2019 Winter charter flights to The Gambia despite previous assurances that it will increase its weekly flights into Banjul.  The decision will obviously mean less tourist visitors, unless a competitor finds it commercially feasible to fill the void - a highly unlike scenario.



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The fracture that threatens the peace and stability

Barrow and Darboe 

The coalition of opposition parties that contested the December 2016 presidential elections against the regime of Jammeh, although it ended up victorious, was wittingly or unwittingly made to fracture.  Halfway into the three-year transition government of Adama Barrow, discernible cracks, deep enough to prove irreparable, emerged, confirming the temporary nature of what can now be characterized as a political alliance of convenience - an admission that would have invited the wrath of the partisan supporters of the coalition.

Presidential candidate Adama Barrow was the by-product of the political realities of the time when the leader of the single largest opposition party, Ousainou Darboe, leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP) was imprisoned for leading a demonstration to demand the release of the body of Solo Sandeng, a member of his party's executive and youth leader killed by paramilitary police.  In addition to facing a leadership deficit, the unification of a plethora of opposition parties into a coercive and unified force to contest the December 2016 presidential elections, will again, prove to be a special challenge after failures in three successive times in 2001, 2006 and 2011.

The coalition of opposition parties was finally realized but not before it became a precondition of the electorate who demanded it.  Days into the campaign, it became clear that the electorate will not tolerate another fragmented opposition to fail at the hands of a well-financed and state-subsidized incumbent candidate with all the state machinery behind him.  Only a coalition of all of the opposition parties can defeat Jammeh.  In response to this demand, a convention of opposition parties was convened, literally days before the December 1st 2016 elections, that produced an obscure UDP party treasurer of unknown quantity to many named Adama Barrow, the UDP party treasurer, as the coalition's candidate for the presidency.

Recognizing his lack of experience in governance with low public profile, presidential candidate Barrow pleaded for patience for his lack of experience and solicited support and assistance from coalition members in his quest for the presidency.  After his surprise win, followed by a political impasse that lasted several tense weeks of negotiations, Jammeh finally decided to vacate State House under threat of the ECOMIG forces. He went into involuntary exile to Equatorial Guinea and President-elect Barrow assumed office in January 2017,

Few days after he won the presidential elections,  Ousainou Darboe, the leader of the UDP was released on bail from Mile II prisons and subsequently pardoned together with other senior members of his political party.  The man the incoming president refers to as his political 'father' swiftly assumed a central figure in the kitchen cabinet of the incoming administration and helped shaped the cabinet.  He assumed the post of Foreign Minister, a strategic error in the eyes of some astute observers of the political scene.  By insisting on being a member of the cabinet, the UDP  leader voluntarily subordinated himself to his political 'son', The President.

Mr. Darboe's subsequent promotion to his current position of Vice President notwithstanding, the prevailing view is that he should have opted to stay away from assuming a cabinet post in a transition government that would have allowed time to take care of his after his health after his imprisoned at the notorious Mile II before embarking on the task of preparing his party for the next presidential elections.  This option would have also made it possible for him to act as adviser to the Barrow government while concurrently strengthening the UDP into a formidable political machine in time for the 2021 presidential elections.

It can be argued that by joining the transition government, Darboe inadvertently introduced an element of competition between the boss (Barrow) and his subordinate (Darboe), a role reversal that is manifesting itself in a very complex relationship between the two gentlemen. 

Conversely, Adama Barrow's performance as president only adds to the imbriglio the transition is turning out to be.  The results of the first eighteen months of the Barrow has been anything but encouraging.  On the economic management front, the economic is still anemic with high youth unemployment.  Little or nothing has happened on the restructuring front which was a top priority of  the coalition because the institutions were seriously seriously weakened under Jammeh.  Lack of fiscal discipline is still pervasive despite promises to control the recurrent budget.

The scourge of corruption has come to be associated with the Barrow government with a series of recent scandals involving over US$750,000 deposited into and transferred from the First Lady's Foundation, SEMLEX, the 57 vehicles gifted to parliamentarians and the latest being the alleged D10,000 per month stipend offered to some parliamentarians by President Barrow which was reported by a sitting member of the National Assembly.

Barrow's record has caused him to lose political support by increasing doubts about his ability and competence to manage The Gambia as president, further making his political position untenable.  Thus his recent move to organize a Youth Movement to rival a similar movement in the party he calls home - the United Democratic Party led by Ousainou Darboe.

Tensions are already high as a result of competing camps within the same political party, with allegations of huge sums of money being handed out to UDP leaders in the length and breadth of the country by the Barrow camp as a means of encouraging them to switch allegiance from Darboe too Barrow.  In fact, social media is awash with rumors including a claim that Barrow despatched a delegation to Darboe encouraging him to step down from the leadership of the UDP that will permit him to be nominated the presidential candidate of the UDP in the 2021 presidential elections.

The political maneuverings have taken its toll with Barrow spending more time politicking at the expense of his main task of governing a country whose economy and security are both in a fragile state as a result of 22 years of bad governance.  Popular dissatisfaction with Barrow style of governance is growing with every new scandal that has cost him dear, further dimming his chances of securing an extended term of five instead of the current three stipulated in the Memorandum of Understanding - the document outlining both his Manifesto and his term of office as a non-party affiliated candidate of the coalition of the unified opposition parties.

The peace and security implications of an uncertain alliance between President Barrow and Vice President Barrow are great and may have played a part in the Gambian president, inappropriately and publicly requesting through the AU Chairperson the extension of the ECOMIG Mission in The Gambia to 2021, instead of through ECOWAS as dictated by and in accordance with AU's principle of subsidiarity.  This is a move that signals to donors, investors, tourists and Gambians that the peace and security of the country cannot be guaranteed by the transition government, even after eighteen months at the helm, thus sending a message that is anything but reassuring.

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Gambia Democracy Fund - Press Release

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                             

October 3, 2018                                                                                  2016coalition@gmail.com

Gambia Democracy Fund Audit 

The Gambia Democracy Fund better known by its acronym - GDF - was established in 2014 as a conduit to raise funds for Gambians and friends of The Gambia living in the Diaspora for the purpose of the political campaign against the entrenched dictatorship at home.

Recognizing the limited financial means of the opposition parties that hindered the mounting of an effective grassroots campaign against an increasingly brutal and corrupt dictatorship, it was soon recognized the need for the establishment of such a fund to to help finance the upcoming presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections scheduled for the 2016 - 2017 political campaign season.

Gambian and friends of The Gambia responded swiftly and generously to the call to action by contributing what turned out to be the single most important source of funding for the Coalition of seven opposition parties and an individual presidential candidate.  A single presidential candidate emerged as a result partly attributable to the creation of the GDF which effective became the financing arm of the unified political opposition to the regime of Yahya Jammeh.

The defeat of the 22-year dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh in the December 1st, 2016 presidential elections signaled the attainment of the primary objective of the existence of GDF.  Like any project, more so one financed through private contributions, we owe contributors to the GDF an account of how their contributions were utilized to allay all fears by assuring them that their hard-earned monies were appropriately applied as we promised.

To achieve this end, an Audit Team has been formed comprising of Messrs. Alhagie Sowe, Ousainou Ngum, Dr. Lamine Contehand Babou Sallah Njie for the purposes of auditing the books including but not limited to to all funds remitted to The Gambia for the 2016 Coalition.

The Audit Team encourages all contributors, and non-contributors alike, to contact them at their official email address : 2016coalition@gmail.com with any information that will help them their audit task.
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                                             This is a public service announcement

FAR - Petronas : Amie Bensouda's law firm fight to exempt FAR from paying capital gains

According to Africa Intelligence trade paper, the legal firm, Amie Bensouda and Co., whose principal partner is currently the Lead Counsel of the Commission of Inquiry into the illicit wealth of the former Gambian dictator, has been busy in court to prevent FAR from paying capital gains tax.

The Australian oil and gas exploration and development company has recently partnered with Petromas, the Malaysian state oil company, by selling 40% share in offshore Gambian Blocks A2 and A5. 

The 40% stake was sold in February to Patronas.  But in May, a new Gambian law came into effect that requires companies to pay, when selling an asset, a hefty capital gains tax.  The corporate lawyers at Amie Bensouda and Co. are arguing that their client, FAR, should not be required to pay capital gains tax on the proceeds of the sale of its 40% share in Blocks A2 and A5 because the sale took place before the law came into effect. 

Mr. Jerreh Barrow, the Commissioner of Petroleum is said to be handling the case on behalf of the government of Adama Barrow with the legal support of Bryan Cave and Berwin Leighton Paisner law firm with Alexander Sarac, the firm's partner responsible for Projects, Energy and Infrastructure Finance. 

If the legal challenge mounted by Amie Bensouda and Co. fails, the sales proceeds subject to capital gains tax, according to Africa Intelligence, will affect FAR's future exploration expenses as well as a small cash portion of several million dollars.

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Dr. Amadou Scattred Janneh's arrest signals the emergence of the dictatorship of Adama Barrow

Sidi Sanneh 

Gambians fought and won against a dictatorship that killed, maimed, tortured, imprisoned and exiled us over a period of twenty-two years. 

Dr. Janneh was a victim of that dictatorship and he has indelible marks to show as proof. His arrest this morning in his home town of Gunjur marks the emergence of yet another dictatorship from the foundation of what we thought was a transition government, tasked to reform our institutions, revise of constitutions, restructure the civil service, judiciary and the state-owned enterprises.

Instead, what the transition government elected to focus its attention on was on contracting odious loans from the Chinese, rehabilitate and reintroduce dubious characters with equally dubious business backgrounds into the business and commercial life of the country. 

The arrest of Dr. Janneh is one more sign of the failure of the government of Adama Barrow to win over the hearts and minds of the Gambian people through demonstrable leadership, honesty and minimum degree of competence.  Instead, what is on display is a government consumed by corruption and fueled by greed, incompetence and ignorance. 

Dr. Janneh was picked up at at the Gunjur cemetery where he was witnessing his uncle's burial, according to several sources.  This method of arrest, right out of Yaya Jammeh's playbook, is reminiscent of the dictatorship that Gambian's endured for 22 years. 

His arrest, according to the same source, is linked to his activism against coastal pollution by a Chinese fish meal company named Golden Lead whose fishing trawler was impounded by the Gambian Armed Forces for illegally fishing in Gambian waters.

As far as we can ascertain, Dr. Janneh is in police custody at the Gunjur Police Station.  He demand his immediate and unconditional release or be charged and released.

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Attorney General Tambadou embellished the facts during his radio interview with Esau Williams

Ba Tambadou, Gambia's Justice Minister 

In a wide-ranging radio interview conducted by Esau Williams for Hot FM, the Gambian Attorney General and Minister of Justice subjected himself to a series of questions relating to recent scandals plaguing the Barrow administration. 

Among these was the pardoning of Svein Aage Sandaker, a convicted Norwegian pedophile, serving a second three-year sentence after he failed to pay a concurrent fine of D600,000 as part of his initial 3-year sentence in 2012. 

Mr. Sandaker was the subject of a recent blog post which readers can find here where we demanded his voluntary resignation, failing which he should be dismissed by his boss.  We based our position on the cumulative performance of the Attorney General, reflected in a series of issues - namely his handling of the Semlex case - including conflict of interest scenarios involving a member of his immediate family.  These issues, in our view, brought, and continue to bring, into sharper focus the AG's management style and bona fides, reflecting, in our view, the quality of legal advice he brings to bear on the job during a critical period in the country's history. 

Attorney General Tambadou's primary contention with the blog post calling for him to resign or be fired was that we did not only blame him for the committee's recommendation that led to the pardoning of the Norwegian pedophile - a decision immediately rescinded after public uproar - but he claimed that we attributed the recommendation to him "under his hand" while he was away on the Hajj. 

Of course, we knew he was away and we said so in the piece because his absence, in the scheme of things, was immaterial and thus should not prevent us from addressing the issue when we did.  Being Chairman of the Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy is a constitutionally prescribed function, and as such, becomes an integral part of the Attorney General's TOR.  Therefore, even in his absence, that responsibility falls on the lap of the most senior official in the Justice Ministry which explains why it was the Justice and not the Interior Ministry that responded to the public outcry following the news that a pedophile was among the pardoned prisoners. 

At the time, we wrote "...As we said then "...on Monday 20th August, 2018, the Ministry of Justice, under the hand of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, issued a public notice informing Gambians that President Barrow...has decided to grant pardon to seven convicted prisoners." 

The phrase was clearly in reference to the public notice issued by the Solicitor General and not about the decision of the Committee to recommend the seven prisoners.  This brings us to the crucial question of who represented the AG at the critical meeting in question and what were his instructions to his representative.  It is unimaginable to (i) not send a representative to the meeting and (ii) not issue clear instructions the AG Chambers preferences and how to vote, preferably in writing.

Should we expect a straightforward and honest response to our questions?  We doubt it.  The pattern established by senior government officials is when there's a public outcry, promise them an investigation but allow sufficient time for the noise to die down or be drowned by another scandal.  The cycle continues.

When we demanded his resignation, the Attorney General issued a statement from Saudi Arabia promising to conduct a thorough investigation upon his return from Mecca.  True to form, immediately upon his return, he concluded that the Mr. Sandaker affair was "water under the bridge." No, Mr. Attorney General, the water is not under the bridge until you provide us with the results of your investigations.