Dear Kist-members,

The latest in the groundnut trading season is that GOTG has announced on the
6th Jan 2000 that the the season was now to begin in earnest after so many
false starts that were souce of lot of disappointment for so many Gambian
farmers and their depenbdents. Inspite of widespread rumours taking the
rounds days before the announcement, the official price of D2700 perton was
not reduced as many had feared and according to widespread rumours. Three
private dealers, namely the Farato Farms, New Dimensions (NDL) and the
UTP-Tulor were said to be ready for buying nuts in cash allover the country.

This of of course was welcome news for hundreds of thousands of groundnut
cultivators who had been living in dspair all thoughout the holy month of
Ramadan. Many of these had given up all hopes of turning many a bumper
harvest to much needed cash , inspite of all prior promises. An estimated 12
500 tons of nut had been screened, weighed and deposited to scores of depots
around the country without any clewar or firm indications of payments. This
inspite of the the so-called FOA, or Framework of Agreement, prepared by the
ASPA, a thorny non-governmental forum of so-called stakeholders that is
backed by EU and local Western representatives but that is vhemently opposed
by GOTG. Tens of thousands of other farmers had taken their nuts across the
border to Senegal to be paid prices much lower than both the Senegalese and
the Gambian officially announced prices. The rest either resorted to the
cut-throating mule-ridden Njogan buyers or, with the help of primitive oil
expellants, screwed the nuts into cooking oil for the domestic market. All
these, needless to say, became major diincentives for participants in the
groundnut sector.

Nevertheless, the economic situation of many Gambian producers and other
citizens still remain precarious and the masses of the country's people are
still apprehensive.

They have every reason to be so because the measures adopted by GOTG is like
using petrol to put out a house on fire. Government has abruptly and without
going through the due process, plundered funds from the Department of Social
Security, GAMTEL and Gambia Ports Authority to raise the D30 million now
used to pre-finance purchasing by the three private dealers.

Pro-government sources are really mad due to the high-handed interfarence by
EU and representatives of other international financiers. They hacve forced
GOTG,the only financially liquid domestic åplayer, to stand off from
interference with the trade. Both Farato Farms and NDL, purely Gambian
private companies, are penniless, totally dependent on pre-financing by
potential external buyers. UTP-Tulor, a Swiss-based company of dubious
reputation that was the cause of a major part of the chaos of thisa season,
is operating with a volume much less than the impression it had given to
GOTG negotiators, is the third so far accredited company.  Catrl Agency,
another local buyer, has been left out for reasons yet to be known.

But perhaps the most frightening aspect of the whole situation is that
Goverenment has only been able to mobilize about D30 million which can buy
only about 11 000 tons with a good portion expected to be left unbought in
the hands of GOTG. Who will pay for the expected losses? The nbeneficiaries
of the Social Security Fund, Tax Payers, who? What abot the remaing 60 000
tons, who will buy them?

Meanwhile as the turbulence of the groundnut season rocks, cabinet was again
reshuffled. Mr. Ablie Sallah who last week replaced the  Mr. Dumbuya as
SOS-Agriculture, has heimself been replaced by one Hassan Sallah.  The
former has taken the portfolio of Health from the over-worked Vice
President.

Papa Njie
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