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toubab1020
12238 Posts |
 Posted - 07 Jul 2022 : 10:57:23
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https://standard.gm/gambia-news/assembly-finally-accepts-petition-to-investigate-gpa-corruption-allegations/
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By Tabora Bojang on July 5, 2022
A petition requesting the national assembly to investigate corruption allegations at the Gambia Ports Authority GPA has finally been accepted by the Office of the Clerk.
The petition draws attention to corruption and bribery allegations by some staff of the GPA Rating Unit. They are accused of ‘issuing fake receipts, undercutting fees, soliciting bribes and other acts which allowed them to make D4 million every week between 2020 to 2022.
A petition to investigate the matter was first sent to parliament by Whats-on-Gambia, a popular online media but their request was rejected by the Office of the Clerk for failing to meet the admissibility criteria.
However two Gambians Muhammed L Darboe and Tijan Bah then took up the matter and pushed for the petition to be returned to the Assembly last week.
Muhammed and Tijan want the Clerk to take their concerns seriously, refer the matter to the Public Petition Committee to investigate the allegations as well as compel the GPA management to share with the public the report of its internal investigation on the matter.
According to them corruption is deeply embedded and institutionalised in the public sector reflecting an increased struggling economy, a broken health care and poor educational system.
“We therefore respectfully urge your office to consider this petition admissible and refer it to the Public Petitions Committee and pray that the said committee will compel the Gambia Ports Authority to make public their internal investigatory report on the alleged graft by their staff,” the petitioners urged the Clerk.
In its response seen by The Standard, the Office of the Clerk in a letter dated July 4th 2022, stated; “Given that the Office of the Clerk has not found anything particularly objectionable about the form of the petition or the other elements of admissibility, it is the considered view of the Office that the petition, which is in the English language, generally meets the requirements of the National Assembly Standing Orders. The petition is admissible and shall be referred to the Public Petitions Committee in accordance with Standing Order 126 (7) of the National Assembly Standing orders.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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toubab1020
12238 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jul 2022 : 15:07:51
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https://standard.gm/gambia-news/gpa-defiant-over-release-of-preliminary-corruption-investigations/
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By Tabora Bojang on JULY 25th 2022.
The director of traffic operations at the Gambia Ports Authority has told the National Assembly that GPA is not in the position to share with the public findings of its preliminary investigations over an alleged corruption involving its staff because it could tamper the outcome of an ongoing audit exercise on the matter.
Appearing before the National Assembly public petition committee probing corruption allegations by staff of the GPA on Friday, Lamin Sanneh said following widespread allegations of corruption within the rating unit, the management convened an emergency meeting and established an internal task force comprising 3 members to investigate the matter.
He said the prelimninary investigation was submitted to the management on March 16th, 2022 which resulted in the suspension of several senior and junior staff of the rating and the delivery and documentation units.
According to Mr. Sanneh, the staff were sent on administrative leave pending the investigation of the matter by the police who are waiting for an ongoing audit by the NAO to enable them to act on the case and take action against all persons involved.
He said the staff suspended from the rating unit are; Alagie Marong, manager of the rating unit, Yandeh Mbenga, assistant rating manager, Raki Bah, senior clerk, Kumba Sarr, senior clerk, Binta Sallah, a superintendent and Sohna Bojang.
Those suspended from the delivery and documentation unit, he said, are Ousainou Cham, assistant manager, John C Loum, supervisor and Bintou Janneh, a senior clerk.
“They are sent on leave with half salary pending the outcome of the police investigation into the matter,” Mr. Sanneh informed probing members.
He disclosed that “GPA has since written to the Auditor General to conduct a special investigation as requested by the police and later to furnish the police with the report for them to take necessary actions against anyone found wanting.”
Asked if the management would be willing to share the report with the public as demanded by the petitioners, Sanneh insisted that the report is inconclusive.
“The report is not completed. If you give it to the public and then they tamper with it, you cannot do a proper investigation. We are using the National Audit Office so that we can have a correct, conclusive report which will be accessible to everyone. The Ports belong to the public and it should be transparent and we will be transparent. But just allow us to have the audit completed by the NAO and then it will be shared with everyone. This is just preliminary report. They should be asking for the special audit report which will be out in the public when completed.”
Sanneh also denied allegations that staff of the rating unit were stealing D4 million every month as a result of the alleged corrupt practices, including overratings and duplication of receipts.
“That is on the huge side. If we have that amount of money then port would be somehwere else. D4 million per week or month, it is not accurate.”
However, the select Committee has received the investigative report
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 25 Jul 2022 15:08:36 |
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toubab1020
12238 Posts |
Posted - 19 Sep 2022 : 16:14:39
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SNIPPET FROM THIS ARTICLE BELOW:
"A heightened public uproar for tougher actions prompted two concerned Gambians to petition the Public Petitions Committee of the Assembly to compel the GPA share the internal investigation report with the public for transparency purposes.
The committee held several engagements with both GPA management and the petitioners with lawmakers finally ordering the GPA to share the report as requested by the petitioners."
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https://standard.gm/gpa-declines-assemblys-order-to-share-report-of-corruption-investigation/
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By Tabora Bojang on September 19, 2022
The Gambia Ports Authority has declined a directive issued by the Public Petitions Committee of the National Assembly to share with the public the findings of its preliminary internal investigations into an alleged corruption scandal implicating a number of senior and junior staff of the institution.
Earlier this year, some GPA staff were alleged to have been involved in widespread theft and corruption with millions of dalasis being fleeced every week.
The Gambia’s top information portal, What’s On Gambia, made it a cause célèbre and whipped public fury over the matter prompting the management to establish an internal task force to investigate the matter.
The three-member panel submitted its report to the management in March 2022 resulting in the suspension of the manager of the Ratings Unit Alagie Marong, his assistant Yandeh Mbenga, the assistant manager at Delivery and Documentation Unit Ousainou Cham, supervisor John C Loum, senior clerks Raki Bah, Kumba Sarr and Bintou Janneh, and superintendents Binta Sallah and Sohna Bojang.
A heightened public uproar for tougher actions prompted two concerned Gambians to petition the Public Petitions Committee of the Assembly to compel the GPA share the internal investigation report with the public for transparency purposes.
The committee held several engagements with both GPA management and the petitioners with lawmakers finally ordering the GPA to share the report as requested by the petitioners.
But GPA spokesperson, Yankuba Manneh, told The Standard last evening that the authority replied to the parliamentary committee last week stating its objection to comply with the directive.
“Publishing that inconclusive report may prejudice the outcome of the ongoing investigations,” Manneh told The Standard.
“The management has invited the police to launch an investigation into the matter and after a month the police wrote back to the management and recommended that the National Audit Office be involved to do a parallel investigation. The management complied and engaged the NAO to investigate from January 1st 2019 to 31st December 2021. This exercise has commenced and the NAO has been given an office at the port. They are to go into each transaction within this period to provide the management a fair idea of what was going on. The internal report only spanned three weeks and management felt it was not conclusive and therefore not prudent enough to publish the report. What if the names of persons alleged to be involved are found to be innocent and we already published their names?” the spokesperson queried.
He said the GPA wrote to the petitions committee last week requesting for a face-to-face meeting for them to explain these and other reasons that prevented them from sharing the report with the public.
Asked if this may not tantamount to contempt of the National Assembly, Manneh averred that the management is conscious of that and that was why they requested for a meeting.
The chairman of the Public Petitions Committee and Member for Wuli East, Suwaibou Touray, said he is yet to see the GPA response but promised the committee will internally review the GPA response and come up with a decision.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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GPA corruption allegations, (Developments)
