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Momodou
Denmark
11634 Posts |
 Posted - 05 Nov 2020 : 14:08:21
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Democracy is NOT an Obstacle to Fighting Corruption!
By Madi Jobarteh
Let Pres. Adama Barrow be informed that Democracy is the best tool to combat corruption contrary to his unfounded narrative that Democracy is an obstacle to tackle corruption. This is what Pres. Barrow said in an interview with EyeAfrica few days ago,
“You know in a democracy is not easy. If democracy was easy nobody will be encouraged to respect democracy. It is because is difficult. If it’s dictatorship you can go and arrest people, jail them, you do that. But now you cannot do that. What you do is you follow due process”.
This narrative shows the President is either totally ignorant about Democracy or he is trying to encourage corruption in the land or both. If the President of the Republic does not understand how Democracy works but thinks that Dictatorship is the solution to corruption then the country is in a dangerous situation.
Can Pres. Barrow tell us which Dictator and Dictatorship anywhere in history that was not corrupt to the core. For example, in the Gambia, it was clear that the most corrupt person was Despot Yaya Jammeh as evidenced from the Janneh Commission and as the ongoing TRRC continues to reveal. It was obvious that Yaya Jammeh only pretended to fight corruption by targeting certain individuals and companies but he was never anti-corruption. In fact, Yaya Jammeh is the incarnation of Corruption.
Around the world, it is obvious that past dictators like Mobutu of Zaire, Idi Amin of Uganda or Sani Abacha of Nigeria were as corrupt as present-day dictators like Idris Deby of Chad, Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo or Faure Gnassimbe of Togo just to name a few. So, where on this earth has Pres. Barrow seen a Dictator who is not corrupt to the core?
Secondly who told Pres. Barrow that in a Democracy one cannot arrest and prosecute corrupt public officials? Has Pres. Barrow looked into democratic societies to see how they are fighting corruption? If you go to France, you will find that a few weeks ago the police had raided the homes of the current health minister and other public officials for mismanaging COVID response in France?
Across many European democracies, one could see how public officials and wealthy business people are arrested, prosecuted and jailed for corruption. Yet Pres. Barrow said Democracy is an obstacle to combating corruption. How?
Democracy is designed to serve four major purposes. That is, to promote transparency and accountability. Secondly, to ensure efficient delivery of public services. Third, to promote popular participation, and fourthly to combat corruption and abuse of office and any other violations. This is because Democracy is based on a rule of law that ensures that citizens and public officials always act according to the law.
Hence if anyone violates the law such as embezzling public funds or stealing private property then that person has violated the law and should be arrested and prosecuted. This is what Democracy is all about. This is what the Constitution and the laws of the Gambia say. So, how could Barrow say Democracy cannot be used to fight corruption?
But the fact is that so far Pres. Barrow has refused to enforce the Constitution and laws of the Gambia such that public officials will violate the law without any accountability. That is impunity. Therefore, we should not allow Barrow to ridicule Democracy by hiding his failure to enforce the law to combat corruption.
What Barrow has manifested is that he is protecting corrupt officials and promoting corruption in the Gambia. Otherwise the Constitution and the laws of the Gambia within the framework of Democracy have given him all the powers and tools to tackle corruption. But the President has refused to do that and now wants to blame Democracy. This is why, just like Yaya Jammeh, Pres. Barrow has until now also failed to set up an anti-corruption agency.
Is it that Adama Barrow is telling us that until we have Dictatorship, he cannot fight corruption in his Government? Then why did we remove Yaya Jammeh and voted for him? If Dictatorship is the best tool to fight corruption then why was the regime of Yaya Jammeh so corrupt? Or is Barrow seeking to be a Dictator onto us?
I hereby demand that Pres. Adama Barrow withdraw that irresponsible, misleading, dishonest and horrible statement that Democracy is an obstacle to fighting corruption. I order him to get up and enforce the full force of the laws of the Gambia by arresting all public officials found to be corrupt. He has all the evidence because his Government has set up a lot of commissions so far that have found many public officials to be corrupt.
It is not only Bamba Banja, but what about the other officials mentioned in the recent audit report of the 7 SOEs that found massive corruption in public enterprises? What about the Janneh Commission Report? What about the D35M in the FABB account? What about the anonymous donors? What about the diplomatic passports? What about the fertilizer scandal? What about the corruption in sand mining? What about the contracts for Semlex, telecoms, EU fishing, Chinese fishmeal companies and Banjul road project among others?
The Government of Pres. Adama Barrow is corrupt to the core and he knows it. The laws are clear as to how to tackle corruption in the most democratic manner. Yet Pres. Barrow has refused to enforce the laws but only seeks to blame Democracy and prefer Dictatorship! Let it be clear to all that Adama Barrow does not want to fight corruption because all around him is CORRUPTION! This is indeed disgraceful.
For The Gambia Our Homeland
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2020 : 23:43:23
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The Chronical has reported further information.
https://www.chronicle.gm/barrow-blames-democracy-for-unpunished-corruption-hints-moves-to-e-system-for-transparency/
Omar Faye On Nov 3, 2020
President Barrow says one of the ways his government will eliminate corruption is to migrate to an E. system on public financial transactions. Barrow was responding to question by Eye Africa TV about his government’s involvement in a series of massive bribery scandals. The latest in the line was bribery scheme unearthed at the Fisheries department by Malagen, a Gambian online outlet.
In the snippet of the Eye Africa TV interview, Barrow could be seen and heard saying “How do we eliminate corruption? You migrate to the E. system”. According to Adama Barrow, the on-camera bribery scheme that splashed the Fisheries ministry is an isolated case. He said his government is looking into the matter as his policies and plans revolves around eliminate corruption. “It’s unfortunate but we have set up an enquiry”.
The bribery scandal President Adama Barrow is referring to is the one in which Bamba Banja, a top official of the ministry of Fisheries could be heard on tape, confirming on a phone conversation, to have received bribes. Bamba Banja has since been sent on administrative leave pending the outcome of a police investigation.
“We’ve suspend the man concern. The man who’s accuse. We are now investigating. After the investigations, then reports comes that the time we’ll decide what to do”, the president added.
Yet President Barrow seems to blame the recurrence of unpunished corruption scandals on “democracy”. According to the Gambian president, his government finds it difficult to act to punish corrupt officials because of the safeguards of democracy. “You know in a democracy is not easy. If democracy was easy nobody will be encouraged to respect democracy. It is because is difficult. If it’s dictatorship you can go and arrest people, jail them, you do that. But now you cannot do that. What you do is you follow due process”, President Adama Barrow argued.
Corruption and bribery scandals have regularly hit officials of the government of President Adama Barrow. One of such cases directly involved President Adama Barrow’s wife, Madam Fatoumatta Bah Barrow, after bank transfer documents unveiled a mysterious bank transaction amounting to a little over $750,000 that originated from Hong Kong via the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to Guaranty Trust Bank, London Branch to Novo Banko in Lisbon before being lodged into the account of the First Lady’s Fatoumata Bah Barrow’s Foundation (FaBB) at the Guaranty Trust Bank in Banjul.
The FatuNetwork recently unveiled that the transfer was made by a Chinese energy company named TBEA that is now said to have won the bidding for a transmission and distribution project under NAWEC, Gambia’s public utility company.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Fighting Corruption: Democracy is NOT an Obstacle
