Pa,

Thanks for the wonderful and thorough analysis of the situation. I also see the
dismissal of the SoS as scapegoating. Remember how his predecessor was also
dismissed for similar reasons(from the public's point of view).

I think the government should take take responsibility instead of shifting them
to a minister when all his colleagues in the cabinet know they have not done
enough to solve the problem. It needs money to buy the nuts. Does the SoS has
that money allocated to him. Where is the money going to come from? I guess not
from his pocket! I think it is very unfair, unprofessional and unethical if GOTG
doesn't have the money to buy the nuts and turn around now and give the
impression that the SoS doesn't have the interest of the farmers at hand. It's
tarnishing someone's integrity for one's selfish end. I hold the government
entirely responsible for the disaster until they come with proof that the SoS was
sabotaging the trade seasons. And i don't think am alone in this.

Yunusa


Njie Pa M wrote:

> Ousman,
> You are right. The SOS for Agriculture, Fasainey Dumbuya has just been
> sacked. This has been expected , of course, given the bungling of this
> year´s groundnut trade. Though the the annual groundnut trading season
> officially started Dec. 15, this year´s trade season is still to start in
> earnest. Hundreds of thousands of groundnut farmers wait in despair for
> government to arrange marketing outlets that will transform a bumper harvest
> of an expected 70 000 tons of hardly produced groundnuts into much needed
> cash to keep life arolling.
>
> Last year, Gambian farmers were without any secured marketing outlets for
> their marketing produce. The first time such has ever happened since the
> British introduced the groundnut industry over hundred years ago. This
> followed high-handed arms-twisting by government of the GGC, Gambia
> Groundnut Cooperation, owned by the multinational Alimenta in the Autumn of
> 1998. Government accused Alimenta of many horrendouds crimes such as
> money-laundering and conspiracy to kill The Gambia's groundnut-sector.
> Alimenta dismissed the charges, claiming that the Government of The Gambia
> (GOTG) owes a sum of D40 million from the previous season that had still not
> been settled inspite of many promises. Government accuseed Alimenta's GGC of
> refusing to buy and process the nuts at their oil-expellant plant at the
> Denton Bridge while Alimenta says it could not start processing the seeds in
> 1997 because there was only 15 000 tons of groundnut available that season
> and that the machinery needed atleast 40 000 tons to be operated
> economically. After tedious negotiations that involved explicit threats and
> arms-wtisting, goverment sent in a group of men headed by the then National
> Chairman of the July 22nd Movement to arrest and deport the GGC's General
> Manager. Governemnet announced the taking over of the company´s plant and
> left armed soldiers all over the place. To help the ease the siuation, money
> was brought in from Libya(some say in plastic bags) and Libyans, operating
> under a certain company, suddenly appeared to buy the nuts. But the Libyan
> money was said to be only D10 million and could help buy only a small
> fraction of the crop. In April of 1998, GOTG had liquidated the failed GCU(
> Gambia Cooperative Union) in an amatreurish haste without first thinking of
> a substitute to replace the oreganisation's functions of serving as a
> marketing outlet of the nuts and the distribution farming inputs to the
> farming community. Last year´s season therefore became a shocking disaster
> for Gambians. Luckily however, neihbouring Senegal that enjoyed STABEX, an
> EU-concession under the Lome Convention that Gambia had been denied since
> the coup of 1994, bought most of the nuts through the parastatal SONACOS or
> cross-border smuggling by so-called Njogans on mule-backs. This year
> however, things are different. Senegal itself has a bumper harvest and
> SONACOS is said to be itself in financial distress. Prices that Senegal is
> offering is not more competive than the GOTG-announced price of D2700/ton.
> Next year is election year in Senegal and Governemnt must see to it that
> nuts produced by Senegalese farmers must be bought firtst. Furthermore, the
> CFA-franc, used in Senegal, has depreciated against the GMD substancially
> over the last month. So Senegal the only other natural outlet is no longer
> an attractive market.
>
> Ironically, everbody in The Gambia is surprised that things could be worse
> this time than last year´s trade season. The farming commmunity is in pain.
> A pain that they cannot understand. Their suffering is like one of the
> unknown soldier. The monopolisers of the means of information, the media,
> both public and private, who have a totally different hierachy of
> priorities, think the failure of the groundnut trade is no-news, so the pain
> of farming-folks ois one tthat is untold, unfathomable and beyond the reach
> of the urban community and organisations.
>
> With their typical tolerance, Gambians generally forgave GOTG for last
> year's failure but cannot now understand that this season's trade will be a
> repetition of last year's, only on a much grander scale. For over four
> months now, so-called stake-holders have been meeting regularly in
> preparation for the 1999/2000 trade season under the umbrella of the
> EU-sponsored ASPA (don´t remember what the acronym stands for but has
> somthing to do with Agric Services ?????). The main players in this group
> are private companies like Carl's Agency, NDL, Farato Farms, etc ,
> representatives of Government and a Swis-based company called UTP-Gambia.)
> Populated by persons from the the liquidated GCU or ex-servants, ASPA is
> considered a bastion of disgruntled elements but backed by the local EU
> representation they can hardly be cowed. In line with the prevalent
> pro-market line of thinking and under heavy pressures from EU and other
> international forces government was forced to abdicate its responsibility in
> this vital sector. This may prove to be its biggest mistake ever. At an ASPA
> meeting held a week before the offcial Dec. 15th start of the trade season,
> FACs(Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Society) a new APRC-based and
> top-down cooperative APEX that GOTG created recently to replace the GCU, was
> told in no unclear terms by the EU representative that the EU demanded that
> this organisation, inheritors of all the seccos and trading implements in
> the country, must not enter into the groundnut trade if The Gambia was to
> enjoy any STABEX support. FACS and their proteges in the GOTG had nothing
> but to withdraw.
>
> To be able to buy only 50 000 of the expected 70 000 tons, atleast 186
> million is needed. Over 120 seccos need to be operated across the country.
> Now not more than ten seccos are being operated, only about 316 tons have so
> far been bought cash, the rest about 1500 tons were bought with promisory
> notes 2 weeks into the season. This compares with the over D50 million paid
> for cash in the first two weeks of any previous normal seasons. To top it
> all, the company that GOTG has been negoitiating with since August that gave
> the impression that it was interested in the trade and was liquid enough to
> carry it through, has only $2.8 million available for the business. People
> wonder why GOTG could not use the services of Gambian legations abroad and
> even the NIA to get information on this company if it took the interest of
> Gambian farmers seriously. Many here see the dismissal of The Agric SOS as
> just a matter of creating and sacrificing a scapegoat. Meanwhile,farmers are
> waiting for governemnt to do some thing. As they weight the, weight of the
> nuts reduce at their expence and the aflatoxin contents multiply. They
> wonder into the millenium: Where from here. Why have they fared so badly in
> the hands of this government that had promised them so much? Who will buy
> the nuts and will promisory notes be honoured????????
>
> Happy Millenium
> Pappa Njie
>
> Pa
>
> It is difficult to portray in writing, the suffocation that this spells for
> the Gambian farming community. People are therefore apprehensive.
> For the average m the Milllenim and its
>
> >From: Ousman Bojang <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
> ><[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: Ousman: Re: A reminder for President Jammeh
> >Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 14:30:22 EST
> >
> >Saul,
> >It has just come to my knowledge that he his first victim is the SOS for
> >Agriculture, Mr. Dumbuya. As I write he is giving a live speech on the
> >Radio
> >and hopefully we will get to hear more.
> >
> >Ousman.
> >
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