Another Skeleton in Our Cupboard The Independent (Banjul) EDITORIAL December 27, 2002 Posted to the web December 27, 2002 Banjul A majority of Gambians don't know it, but there were two things Jammeh secured from his trip to Nigeria. One was the usual commitment to bilateral cooperation between 'Big Brother' and The Gambia, which was publicised in the state media. The other which was a gift of oil to The Gambia never saw the light of day in the media. Why? It was good news to learn that Nigeria is staying true to its commitment with The Gambia, by continuing to give technical and military assistance. But what was even better news was the offer to The Gambia of 22,000 tons of crude oil by Nigeria. Our inquiries revolve around the question of why the government is selective on the things they wish to make transparent or not. This omission is conspicuous. In a previous editorial, The Independent pointed out how the lack of transparency is gnawing at our Gambian statecraft and how the blemish cast overbearingly on our democratic system, founded on the principles of checks and balances, probity and accountability, is getting all the more pronounced. We want leaders who practise what they preach, not leaders who pile up skeletons in the cupboard. We want a government, which would strive to deliver and explain to the people why so many things were going wrong. We want a government, which is not only democratic and transparent but is also seen as such. Our national reality suggests how utopian these expectations are. There is no point in time when Gambians need a transparent, accountable government than now when everything about our economy is going disastrously topsy-turvy. If the offer was made in the name of The Gambia and not in the name of any individual or group of individuals, then the regime has to inform the public. It is better to err on the side of transparency than to err elsewhere. The Gambia is no a stranger to crude oil sagas. The first involved Jawara, which was trumpeted as an issue of corruption by Jammeh's government, which spoke lengthily on transparency and the lack of it in the PPP day. From 1984 to 86 17 million barrels amounting to $41 million were reserved for The Gambia. It provided the ace to pummel Jawara at every opportunity. And Jammeh and co were at pains to show how justified they were in their criticism of the old order. But two years later, they too were involved in a similar saga, linked to an Abacha oil gift to The Gambia (not to the government) from the same country, Nigeria. In 1996 $3.8 million were alleged to have been accrued from the crude oil transaction. Jammeh was left with nothing to say but to opt for official silence. Although no one betrays himself by silence, in given contexts it could be eloquent. In this case it made obvious that something was awry with the handling of the oil gift. Our thought at the time was how successive African governments and their leaders never learn from the costly mistakes of their predecessors and take their people deeper into the dark recesses of the abyss called poverty and political privation. Now after this latest revelation, we hate to admit that the regime has learnt not from its own mistakes or from the one before it. In the end such a mistake cannot be called a mistake because it was calculated. Mistakes are supposed to be accidental not calculated or contrived for a given purpose. Embarrassing as they may be to the government and those who serve it thereof, these issues need to be pointed out so that something is done to arrest them. As we said in a recent editorial, we do not hate personalities serving the government, but anti-social tendencies that characterise their handling of the country's affairs. We are all stakeholders in the running of the country, hence our abiding interest in all things Gambian. In fact a prominent Gambian owns a plantation in Guinea-Conakry but prefers to keep it as a secret skeleton in the cupboard. The truth is uncompromising and excuse us for stressing it. There are no two ways about it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~