Tremor Hits Central Bank Over D222 Million in the Bonnet, Five Charged

The Independent (Banjul)
NEWS
January 26, 2004
Posted to the web January 26, 2004
Banjul

Operation No Compromise has stepped up gear as past and present officials
in the senior cadre of the Central Bank were on Friday charged with
multiple economic crimes against the state.

In one of the most drastic actions yet by the APRC government in its fresh
new campaign to rout corruption, five individuals at the country's
regulatory bank will face trial over so-called economic crimes thought to
have been committed while they were officials in the bank between 2002 to
February 2003.

The Central Bank five include Clark Bajo ex Governor, Haddy Sallah, General
Manager, Abdoulie Capu Cham, Director of Finance, Lang Conteh ex Foreign
Exchange Manager and Phillip Akibogum a senior bank executive.

Baba Jobe who already faces multiple charges was also among those charged
anew. The Central Bank five were charged under Section 5 Subsection A of
the Economic Crimes Decree N0 16, for allegedly causing millions of dalasi
of financial losses to the state after they were entrusted funds to arrest
the depreciating value of the local currency.

Between 2002 to February 2003, Swiss Franc 9, 833, 189.64 (D224, 688,383.27
million) was allocated to the Central Bank to stabilise the serious
fluctuation of the dalasi, a task that in principle should have lasted for
two days but which was to drag on for two years apparently due to lack of
serious thrust from the senior personnel at the bank entrusted with the
task. Instead they were found to have been involved in illegal side
contracts to stabilise the local currency, against which other regional and
international currencies were rallying gains.

In the same vein, Julakay Engineering and Construction, Camelot Radio and
Production Services, Camelot Asset and Management Holding and Wechet Faling
were all awarded illegal contracts by those currently facing economic
crimes charges for their part in the Central Bank racket. These four
business concerns have also been charged under the same economic crimes
decree.

With their arrest, leading to subsequent charges preferred against them for
their roles in what is the most outrageous economic crime this country has
known since the dawn of the Second Republic, startling revelations have
been made pertaining to who is who in the scale of shares for the four
business outfits. For Julakay, Baba Jobe is the highest shareholder with 40
percent, while Ansumana Marena and Foday Lang Sarr have 30 and 15 percent
respectively.

For the relatively little known Camelot Radio and Production Services, Lang
Conteh holds the biggest shares of 50 percent, while Baba Jobe lays claim
to 49 percent as advertiser Aziz Willan controls 1 percent.

With Camelot Assets and Management Holding, Lang Conteh controls 51 percent
of the shares, while his teenage daughter Bintou Conteh has 49 percent in
her name.

With Wachet Faling, Mbawula Cham wife of ex Central Bank Governor Clark
Bayo controls 26 percent of the shares. Bintou Conteh (Lang Conteh's
daughter) has 24 percent. Betty Saine and Njarga have 25 percent
respectively.

This major shakeup at the Central Bank comes barely a month after the World
Bank issued what passed off as a worrisome statement, expressing disquiet
over the country's economy. The World Bank lamented the fact that
macroeconomic imbalances have worsened as evidenced by the weak growth
performances, high inflation, the sharp depreciation of the exchange rate
and an increasing fiscal deficit. The monetary growth has been
substantially higher than warranted, provoking the wrath of the Brettonwood
institutions who had reportedly threatened to put their involvement to prop
up the Gambian economy temporarily on hold if "sanity" did not return to
the country's economic system. One recommendation by the IMF was for the
government to sack senior executives of the bank who were directly blamed
for the uninspiring economic performance of the past two years.

The IMF's displeasure was glaring in its end of year statement about the
country's economic downturn which was underlined by the following
observations: "Moreover information that has recently been made available
to the staff suggests that data and foreign international reserves provided
to the Fund earlier may have been significantly overstated and that there
were associated inaccuracies in the data on government expenditure, fiscal
balances and credit flows in 2001. These developments threaten to impede
progress on poverty reduction.

Discussion on the country's PRGF supported programme, which is currently
off tract, could be resumed once additional information had been received
and understanding are reached on the appropriate corrective actions. A
resumption of the Fund's assistance and donors budgetary support is
important in bringing about a return to macroeconomic stability and
reducing poverty in the Gambia. The managing Director of the IMF has
written to the Gambian authorities regarding the understanding necessary to
bring the PRGF supported programme back on track. The fund's staff is also
pursuing the issues regarding data on foreign international reserves with
the authorities to ascertain the relevant facts".


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