By Landing Colley
John Charles Njie, chairman of The Association for Non-Governmental Organization (TANGO) has slammed members of the National Assembly for “their failure to enact the anti-corruption Bill” that has been in parliament since 2019.
Mr Njie’s remark comes after Corruption Performance Index (CPI) report revealed that The Gambia has drop from 96 in 2019 to 102 corrupt nations out of 180 countries in 2021, which revealed that across the sub-region Gambia is the only country without a functioning anti-corruption commission, which has been regarded as a work in progress for nearly 2years at the National Assembly.
“Honestly the National Assembly is a disappointment to lots of Gambians as the responsibility lies in their hands to enact this Bill in order to establish an institution to fight corruption. It is disheartening and embarrassing as we claimed that the former president is corrupt and for four years, we cannot have anti-corruption body which says a lot about the National Assembly and the government at large,” he told The Voice in an interview.
He said: “The government should be disciplined enough to be able to fight corruption but where they cannot then the National Assembly should ensure that the institution is establish to fight corruption.”
According to him, it is disappointing that as a nation what the citizens have fought for in 2016 has not been realized as they are with hope that the new government will make the lives of Gambians better which is still a dream to be achieved.
“The critical thing is that majority of the National Assembly are oppositions and normally the opposition give a lot of trouble to the government but in this case the oppositions in the parliament cannot grip this government. When the 57 vehicles were given there was an outcry and some of the National Assembly members defended it shamelessly. While opposition parties are shouting about corruption when the tool to fight corruption is not in place,” he said.
He went on that National Assembly as representative and arm of government should be able to balance power and keep the executive in check, so national assembly should do what is right and give this Bill a priority.
However, he called on the parliamentarians to find the anti-corruption bill and pass it as soon as possible and as well ensure that the institution is autonomy in order to fight corruption.