Another white washing:-) Where is Jungle Sunrise Gassama?
Perhaps the next commission should be GPTC and how much AFPRC/APRC milked
the resources since July 2004?


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From http://www.observer.gm

News
Gamtel commission members sworn in
By DO
Jul 20, 2004, 10:12



President Yahya Jammeh has ordered an inquiry into Gamtel’s fibre optic
cable project with Siemens of Germany and BEFAC AG of Switzerland.

This particular project has severely affected Gamtel, causing the public
company great financial loss and all attempts made to negotiate to get back
the money by the Office of the President in Banjul have failed, according
to the head of state. Local press reports have indicated that about US$3
million is involved.

The members of the commission headed by the high court judge, Justice Ahmed
Belgore, were sworn in on Friday at State House in Banjul, presided over by
the President.

The other members of the commission are Augustus Prom, a chartered
accountant and Joanna Mbye, a retired headmistress and public ombudsperson.
Abdoulai Sissohor and Cherno Marenah are counsel assisting the commission
and Naomi Sanyang is the secretary.

Speaking after commission members took their oath of office, allegiance and
secrecy, President Jammeh said investigations into this project should not
be difficult, since it was not a very complex case. "There are people who
went into the agreement with these two companies and materials were not
delivered and we want the money back, period! The commission will serve two
purposes - to recover whatever has been lost, and to remind Gambians that
if we have to set up a commissions for the previous regime, those in the
current government should also expect commissions of inquiry on issues
deemed fit to be investigated."

President Jammeh emphasised that his team came to power in July 1994
declaring transparency and accountability as endearing principles.
"No matter how rich a country is, if the people are not honest, their
resources will not benefit the majority who also have the same rights as
that minority which enriched themselves. The objective of it all is to
inculcate honesty and a sense of justice in the minds of not only Gambians
but all who live in this country and are entrusted with a responsibility.
This is no witch-hunting; money is spent, materials are not delivered and
we want the money back. The matter has been dragging on for almost 18
months, and all attempts by this office and relevant institutions to
unearth the truth in order to recover the money have failed. So, the best
thing is to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate and come up with
their findings for government to take drastic actions on whoever is
responsible," President Jammeh emphasised.

Speaking earlier, the chairman, Justice Belgore, observed that in recent
times, President Jammeh had been engaged seriously in matters that deeply
touch on "the lives of this great nation, particularly issues touching on
commercial impropriety. Without sound finance and economy, no nation can
aspire to be great and I promise that my commission will leave no stone
unturned in getting to the bottom of the matter".

The Vice-President, Mrs Isatou Njie-Saidy, expressed her optimism that all
the facts would come to light and that the commission members would come up
with the information needed to help the government on the way forward, "so
that we maintain Gamtel as the second best if not the leading
telecommunications company in Africa."

She assured them that they would have the cooperation of the Gamtel
management and all other concerned parties during their investigations and
appealed to them to be steadfast in their probe so that government would be
better informed on what had transpired and on the way forward for Gamtel.

The secretary of State for Justice, Sheikh Tijan Hydara, said the
commission members are people of high moral standing with a lot of
experience and he was confident that they would serve the commission well
so that the truth will be established.

"Gamtel was a very promising institution in terms of telecommunications to
a point where The Gambia was rated the second best telecommunications
system in Africa. However, of late, there have been a lot of problems in
the administration of the company which has caused a setback to the further
development of the telecommunications sector, especially the fibre optic
cable network. It was against this background that the President decided
that the whole problem should be investigated to look into any malpractice
by the management and also to identify those responsible."

© Copyright 2003 by Observer Company

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