Published in FOROYAA of 25-29 November 1999.
THE DEBATE AFTER JAWARA'S U.S. TRIP
In the last issue, we published a report by Dr Amadou Janneh on former
President Jawara's visit to Atlanta, Georgia. We mistakenly mentioned Miami
instead of Atlanta.
A report, however, did come from his Miami trip from Dr Abdoulaye Saine.
According to him, Jawara was in Miami from 6 to 9 November 1999.
According to Dr Abdoulaye Saine, Jawara met with eight Gambians from
Cincinnati, Columbus and Atlanta.
According to him, the discussion was candid yet fruitful+ADs- that Mafy Jarjue
flew from Atlanta to attend the meeting and took the opportunity to
challenge Jawara's 30 year rule and praised the AFPRC Government. O.B.
Sillah is said to have raised the issue of what he termed as Jawara's
complacency to deal effectively with corruption and other problems faced by
Gambians+ADs- that Mr Mustapha Ceesay praised the former President for the
contributions he made to Gambia and as father of the nation. He is said to
have asked Jawara what compromises he was willing to make to enable him to
return home.
According to Dr Saine, +ACI-to the Jarjue and Sillah comments, Sir Dawda
insisted that his government improved living conditions, readjusted the
economy and laid the basis for the gateway project+ACI-.
According to Abdoulaye Saine, he suggested that the improvements were
marginal at best in light of 30 years of PPP rule. According to Saine,
Jawara responded as follows: +ACI-We did the best we could given our resources
and the dismal state of affairs after independence+ACI-.
Saine added that +ACI-Mr Abdou Sara Janha, former Secretary General of the civil
service, cited the decline in infant and maternal deaths, improvements in
clean drinking water as examples of PPP Government success+ACI-.
According to Saine, to Ceesay's question as to what compromises he was
willing to make to return home, Jawara responded that +ACI-he was willing to
engage President Jammeh in a discussion as a citizen and elder statesman if
he unbanned the PPP, other parties and politicians and created the
conditions for free and fair elections.
According to Saine, on 8 November Jawara delivered a lecture to an audience
of about 200 students, faculty and staff of Miami University.
According to Saine, a Kenyan faculty member in Miami's history department
asked what he would do differently if he had a chance to be President again.
According to Abdoulaye Saine's report +ACI-Sir Dawda responded that he would
continue to emphasise democracy and human rights and continue his economic
reforms. Some of my colleagues felt that Sir Dawda did not answer the
question.+ACI-
In the next issue, we will publish more on former President Jawara's
encounter with Kekoto Bajo, a Gambian living in Cincinnati, U.S. for over 20
years.
What we promised in the last issue is to provide evidence to Gambians of how
their society was being managed prior to the coup and is being managed now.
We promised to start with the question of managing the public sector.
A great debate has unfolded in the country and this debate should be taken
and will be taken to the people. It is the duty of all Gambians to read as
much as possible and convey what they have read to the Gambian people. This
is the era of information and the era of knowledge. No one should wait for
others to interpret realities for us. Each should grasp what is being
transmitted, consider all opinions and form one's own enlightened opinion.
It is very common today for people to enter into a debate as to whether the
regime under Jawara or that under Jammeh is more corrupt or accountable. The
country is a sovereign republic. It belongs to the Gambian people. That is
why the 1970 Constitution of the First Republic and the 1997 Constitution of
the Second republic have created provisions to ensure that Gambians know how
their tax money has been or is being spent.
The role of the Auditor General is to scrutinize government expenditure in
order to tell us which government mismanages national resources and which
one is accountable. Gambians, therefore, should ask themselves what the
Auditor General under Jawara's regime had been saying over the years about
the performance of the regime. They should also ask themselves what the
Auditor General under Jammeh's regime has been saying about the performance
of the regime.
This will enable Gambians to move away from sentiments and rely on objective
facts to pass judgment on the performance of the Jawara and Jammeh regimes.
It is interesting that the Auditor General under the Jawara regime had not
presented a report on the accounts of the Government of The Gambia from 1983
to 1991 until the year 1993. In 1993, he presented a report covering the
financial years 1983/84 to 1990/91. In June 1994, just before the coup
d'etat, a financial statement was given for July 1991 to June 1992. The
other years were still pending.
From 1994, after the coup, to 1997, no financial statements had been
prepared and submitted for audit. A report by the Auditor General came into
being in December 1998.
Let us now review the comments made by the Auditor General under Jawara's
regime in 1993 and that published by the Auditor General under the Jammeh
regime in 1998.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL UNDER THE JAWARA REGIME
On Submission of Annual Accounts and Financial Statements
According to the Auditor General under the Jawara regime: +ACI-There have been
lapses in the submission of annual accounts and financial statements and the
provisions of Section 16 Cap 75 of the Finance and Audit Act have therefore
been violated.
+ACI-The following is the position regarding the Financial years under review:-
+ACI-1983/84 - Received 1989+ADs-
+ACI-1984/85 - Received 1990+ADs-
+ACI-1985/86 - Received 1990+ADs-
+ACI-1986/87 - Received 1991+ADs-
+ACI-1987/88 - Received 1991+ADs-
+ACI-1987/88 - Received 1991+ADs-
+ACI-1988/89 - Received 1992+ADs-
+ACI-1989/90 - Received 1992+ADs-
+ACI-1990/91 - Received 1993.+ACI-
+ACI-The outstanding financial statements are the subject of further
correspondence with the Accountant General for finalisation and
certification.+ACI-
Could one say that the Jawara regime adhered to the principles of
accountability? Let us refer to the Auditor General under the Jawara regime
for an answer.
ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY
+ACI-The backlog in processing, preparation and production and examination of
Government accounts is in progress. The Accountant General has published
annual accounts up to June 1991. The period covered by this report as
indicated earlier is 1983/84 - 1990/91. The following financial statements
are therefore outstanding as at the writing of this report and are the
subject of correspondence with the Accountant General.
+ACI-The financial statements for the years 1991/92 and 1992/93 are therefore
outstanding as at the time of writing this report and are the subject of
correspondence with the Accountant General.+ACI-
Now may we ask, what does the Auditor General under the Jammeh regime has to
say about financial statements:
FAILURE TO PRODUCE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
+ACI-The last financial statements of The Gambia were published in June 1994 and
covered the financial year 1 July 1991 - 30 June 1992. In the absence of the
financial statements we carried out some audit work on the transactions and
controls of the Accountant General's Office.
+ACI-The production of the accounts for The Gambia is the responsibility of the
Accountant General. The accounts for the financial years from 1993 to 1997
have not been prepared and submitted to me for audit. A number of reminders
to this effect were sent to the Accountant General. In their absence I am
unable to report on the accounts as required by the Constitution. The
failure to produce financial statements is a matter of grave concern as we
are unable to confirm the level of expenditure made or revenue collected by
the Government+ADs- whether the government is operating a surplus or deficit+ADs-
and the overall indebtedness of the country. It also reflects poorly on the
standing of the country that it is unable to produce accounts. I believe
this is a serious matter, which should be addressed with urgency. Unless
urgent and concrete action is taken to ensure the outstanding Government
accounts are prepared and submitted for audit and the timely preparation of
future accounts, the process of accountability is seriously undermined. Once
the accounts are received I will put together a specific task force to
ensure the timely completion of the audits.+ACI-
Let us now move further.
FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AUDIT QUERIES
According to the Auditor General under the Jawara regime:
TO BE CONTINUED.
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