EDITORIAL
JAMMEH AND THE CENTRAL BANK MISSING MILLIONS-CONFESSION TIME FOR THE
GAMBIAN DICTATOR
Octoger 27, 2005
We are shocked by these damning revelations on Jammeh's IMF confession
letter. Jammeh is today admitting that there was no cash control at the
central bank of The Gambia. That monies were disbursed without any formal
documentation or monitoring if you like. What a serious and embarrassing
state of affairs? Is this the transparency and accountability Yahya had
been bombarding Gambians day in day out?

We are demanding a comprehensive explanation about these missing millions,
which Jammeh said in his letter to the IMF as still outstanding. As stated
the other day, Gambians are in dire need of such funds. There are
government projects at stand still at the moment due to lack of funds.
Such funds can be used to improve the lives of Gambians, who appeared
hopeless about the current state of affairs.

We said it and we will say it again. Yahya is nothing but a thief. He is
the main problem behind the central bank scam. There were instances, in
which Lang Conteh will give him money to facilitate his overseas trips.
This was the time, when he Jammeh will travelled with brief case filled
with foreign exchange. Lang has a lot of stories to tell Gambians. He was
sacrificed by his boss Jammeh, following IMF'S pressure to clean the mess
perpetrated at the CBG.

Imagine our President telling this to the IMF"The Gambia will take the
actions required under the laws of The Gambia, in relation to this issue.
Since 2003, some of the Swiss Francs have been recorded. The balance
outstanding now stands at CHF 9.28Million. In order to address concerns
about the quality of the previous audits of Central Bank of The Gambia, I
am willing to give audience to an IMF Delegation to Banjul to discuss: (A)
The possible change of auditors for CBG, (B) The possible re-audit of the
CBG for financial years 2001 and 2002, including a separate and
independent examination of the CBG external reserves. The re audit and the
examination of the CBG reserves will be done on the basis of terms and
reference acceptable to The Gambia. I will communicate, through the
Secretary of State for finance and Economic Affairs, the exact date for
the audience in Banjul."

Is Jammeh aware of the implications of such a statement? Why trying to
deceive the IMF, knowing fully well that the firm is capable of
establishing any lie or distorted facts given to them. What happened after
the said change of management and auditors at the central Bank? The same
economic mess is lingering there. We are seeing more corruption today in
The Gambia than ever in the history of our country. As we piece this
editorial together, we have been reliably informed that the Bank is having
problems these days to raise central bank treasury bills. There is no
money in the country. The few businessmen in the country, have lost hope
in the current government and would not risk to invest their monies in
such fundraising ventures. The reality is that, our country is being
governed by thieves. This is the fact of the matter.

Hear Jammeh in this statement "I take this opportunity to assure the IMF
of the government of The Gambia's absolute commitment to transparency and
accountability. The manner in which some transactions were recorded may
not have strictly conformed to acceptable financial reporting frameworks.
However, this does not imply that public funds were misused."

What a lie Jammeh? These unauthorised disbursement funds were used without
any documentation. They were not only misused, but abused as well. This
was the time, when Baba Jobe will call Lang and tell him to reserve some
couples of millions for him. Baba was acting on your directives. You
remember the famous "Money Shop" along the busy streets of Kairaba Avenue?
This was Africa's first money shop to be operated. Yes, trucks were loaded
with central bank foreign exchange monies to keep that office running. The
said money shop was sponsoring APRC party activities and Jammeh's foreign
trips. Our fragile economy had suffered in the hands of Jammeh and his
cohorts.

The IMF Managing Director was right when he said"The first issue relates
directly to the serious failures of internal control over the CBG'S
foreign exchange operations. This seems to have led both to substantial
losses on foreign exchange transactions in recent years and to the non
delivery by foreign exchange bureaus of currency purchased by the
government. Our understanding is that some CHF 11 Million was still
outstanding from the foreign exchange reserves at the end of September
2003 as a result of the latter problem."

By all indications, this is not a government to be trusted. They lived and
survived by lies and deception. Our poor Gambia, don't deserves such. We
want Yahya to know that it is not easy to make a second impression. Going
by the correspondences he Jammeh and his Minister exchanged with the IMF
leadership, one can safely say that the world leading financial body do
not have confidence in the current administration.

When we started talking about the level of corruption in Jammeh's
government, some Jammeh supporters thought that we were joking or trying
to stain Jammeh and his regime. But we have been vindicated by the IMF and
Transparency International damning corruption reports against this
administration. It is just a matter of time for Jammeh and his co to dance
to the music they played for the deposed PPP administration. IMF cannot
solve this problem alone. This is a serious matter, which required the
participation of all Gambians, irrespective of race, tribe or political
affiliation to vote this government out of office come 2006. Failure to do
so, we will see a total different Gambia. We know what we are talking
about.

We know that Jammeh have put in place laws to prevent the local media from
exposing his corrupt practices. But we at The ALLGAMBIAN will not be
intimidated by such laws. The letters we published today are credible and
were signed by Jammeh, his Ministers and the IMF chief. We are not in the
business of inventing news. We report the truth and nothing but the truth.
We are ready to stand by our story come what may.

To APRC'S "Jali FJC", we are concerned about your silence. Why don't you
celebrate the IMF and Transparency indicting reports against your
proclaimed brother Yahya Jammeh and his government? Come on
Fatou....Please mobilise your "Yai Compins" and youth wing leaders to take
to the streets and ask Jammeh to end this corruption madness. You will be
doing disservice to yourself and The Gambia, if you failed to embark on
such a patriotic move. Since you have the daring mind to celebrate the
Amnesty International so called rights report, what is stopping you Fatou?
Your brother should leave now to avoid future disgrace. The writings are
on the wall for him to call it day.

Arresting Samba Bah or importing ministers to help you steer the affairs
of the state will not save Jammeh from going. The time is up Jammeh. As we
stated the other day, try and leave on time to avoid the "Kanilai" train
leaving you behind. Or is that you are waiting for Timbuktu's."gelegeli"
van ? The choice is yours Jammeh. We rest our case.


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