The Gambia - Corruption
Corruption exists, and the government continues its efforts to combat it. The Gambia was ranked 123 out of 168 countries in Transparency International's 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index. The police, the National Intelligence Agency and the Ministry of Justice are responsible for combating corruption. The Gambia has signed and ratified the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption and Related Offences, but has neither ratified the UN Convention against Corruption nor the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.
President Jammeh, a former army lieutenant with little formal education, has become one of the wealthiest men in The Gambia. There is widespread belief that he came by this wealth by pilfering the public coffers. His administration was rife with corruption and a climate of cronyism.
On June 28, 2012, the National Assembly passed the Gambia Anti-Corruption Act aimed at fighting official corruption. The law provides for the setting up of a permanent six-member Commission mandated to investigate and prosecute all crimes of corruption committed by Gambians within and outside the country. On March 6, 2015 President Jammeh said the Commission would soon commence.
The Criminal Code also provides a legal platform for combating corruption. For example, in May 2011, a former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture was convicted on charges of “stealing by a person in public service” for fraudulently overpaying his travel per diem entitlement. He was fined GMD 100,000 (USD 3,300). In July 2011, a former Inspector general of Police was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted on numerous charges including corruption. In December 2013 and January 2014, a former Minister of Justice and a former President of the Gambia Court of Appeal, were each sentenced to two years in prison for soliciting a bribe, an audio recording of which was later uploaded on to YouTube. In the 2014, several officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Department of Fisheries were arrested and charged with various counts of corruption. The trials were still ongoing in 2016.
U.S. firms have not identified corruption as a serious obstacle to foreign direct investment in The Gambia. Traffic police and other junior police and immigration officers are often accused of corruption and solicitation of bribes. Accepting a bribe, irrespective of source, is a criminal act and the penalties are fines and imprisonment depending on the magnitude of the amount. Senior government officials take anticorruption efforts seriously, even though some of them have been investigated for corruption.
In July 2014 the president dismissed Minister of Higher Education Momodou Sabally after he had served in that position for only a week, and the NIA arrested him. Sabally previously served as secretary general in the Office of the President and minister for presidential affairs. Officials held him for 41 days without charge at NIA headquarters, and family members complained they had no access to him. In August 2014 police charged Sabally with “abuse of office” and “economic crimes.” Prosecutors said Sabally, while serving as secretary general, unduly influenced the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation to finance a program entitled “Youth Career Development Program” at a cost of 402,500 dalasi ($10,063) without following the normal approval procedures. The government did not provide a reason for his unlawful detention prior to formal charges. In November, nearly five months after his detention, the High Court granted Sabally bail for 1.5 million dalasi ($37,500). On September 23, authorities dropped all charges against Sabally without explanation.
There were prosecutions for corruption of several civilian officials during 2015. For example, on September 7, officials arraigned Ebrima Jawara, son of former president Sir Dawda Jawara, and four other senior officials of the Ministry of Agriculture (Dr. Alasan Bah, Sulayman Manneh, Lamin Fatajo, and Momodou Lamin Mass) before the Banjul Magistrates Court on a 10-count indictment. The allegations included stealing by persons in public service, abuse of office, stealing by a clerk or servant, theft, and four related economic crimes charges. In December authorities released the five accused, but re-arrested and arraigned Ebrima Jawara before the high court on December 20 on charges of abuse of office and economic crimes. Officials separately arraigned him before the same court on a charge of causing malicious injuries.
The trial continued during 2015 of five senior officials of the Ministry of Agriculture whom authorities arrested in October 2014 and charged with economic crimes and related offenses in connection with the management of the Food and Agriculture Sector Development Project (FASEP). The accused persons were Ada Gaye, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture; Fafanding Fatajo, FASEP coordinator; Omar Jammeh, FASEP financial controller; Foday Jadama, deputy director of the soil and water management services of the Ministry of Agriculture; and Dr. Abdou Ceesay, director of the department of livestock services. The charges mainly related to overpayment for services rendered by an external contractor. The trial continued at the end of 2015.
The trial also continued during 2015 of former magistrate Saikou Fatty, whom authorities arraigned before the Banjul Magistrates’ Court in November 2014 on charges of official corruption. Fatty allegedly solicited the sum of 20,000 dalasi ($500) and a gold wristwatch from a defendant in a matter before his court as a bribe to settle the matter in the defendant’s favor. He denied the charges, and his trial continued at year’s end.
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