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Momodou
Denmark
11636 Posts |
 Posted - 06 Dec 2024 : 15:44:52
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A word for the wise
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This country’s economy was built on the free enterprise spirit, driven by a committed set of individuals in the government civil service who were guided by the Keynesian model and implemented religiously by a Finance Ministry that was staffed by equally committed civil servants to the same economic school of thought.
Jammeh interfered with the free market mechanisms to favor himself and his business friends. Barrow took it steps further by first abolishing the Major Tender Board in April 2017 in a stealthy fashion by creating, in its place, mini-Tender Boards in the biggest spending ministries such as Interior, Works and Defense.
Instead of a centralized procurement system were the same rules apply evenly across the board, we now have several mini-MTBs strewn across the Civil Service - all remotely control from State House that guarantees pre-determined outcomes that Barrow and his cronies want. It was a crudely-designed game where the government-favored bidder always ends up the winner, making a mockery of the entire public procurement system.
When the free market mechanism is distorted, the outcome is never the most desired outcome. This leads to the selection of unqualified contractors that leads to shoddy contract implementation that leads to shoddy finish product. The Gambia has had its fair share of scandals - too numerous to enumerate here - resulting from contractors who couldn’t deliver the goods because they were unqualified. in the first instance. The government as the client representing the public interest ends up with the wrong end of the stick at tremendous cost to the Gambian taxpayer.
As we have been advising the Barrow-led government since the inception of his administration in 2017, a government committed to transparency in its dealings with the governed is a necessary first step to getting the population to buy into the government policy. The same rule has universal applicability. Deliberately misleading the Gambian people encourages the continued pursuit of the wrong policies as long as its pursuit continues to favor the perpetrators of this deception until all hell breaks loose. A word for the wise…..
Sidi Sanneh
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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A word for the wise
