Kebba Ansu Manneh
The Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs yesterday made a sterling revelation saying there is more corruption in the private sector than the government and explained how the government officials connived with the private sector to do corrupt practices and other dubious acts.
Finance Minister Seedy Keita made the scintillating revelation among other issues at a joint synergy organised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in The Gambia.
During his address which congregated participants from both local and international delegates on the theme: ‘Living on the Edge and Managing the High Cost of Living and Food Insecurity in The Gambia, the Gambian finance and economic affairs minister explained: “Is not only government that is corrupt, corruption is a cross-cutting issue and there is more corruption in the private sector than in government. We all know the government represents a fraction of the overall economy and government officials cannot do corruption among themselves, they do it jointly with the private sector.’
He however called for closed collaboration to fight against corruption while recommitting government’s readiness to end the endemic corruption in the system.
“We are doing our best but we cannot do it alone, we will continue to partner with stakeholders both donor community, private sector and the civil society to fight against corruption in the country. Government will continue to enhance the private sector as the engine of growth by creating an enabling environment for the observance of rule of law,’ former trade minister Keita told the convergence.
Minister Keita also challenged Gambians to come forward to take charge of the economy which he said is mainly dominated by non-Gambians in order to stop the blame-game on the government.
