Gambian news media has been reporting some of the troubling findings of the Nat’l Audit Office’s examination government contracts – one with Secuiport and another with conflict timber exporters that was buried in the NAO Final Audit of GoTG 2019 Financial Statements.
As for Securiport, the Barrow regime responded with a press release. Mr. Sankanu, the Deputy Govt Spokesperson, reminded readers of the President’s devotion to transparency and accountability in public fiancial management. The NAO, the Parliment’s Financial and Public Accounts Committee and the Gambia Public Procurement Authority are there to police things. He measures the success of the regime’s activities using the receipt of funding from the US Millenium Challenge Corp. as an example of confidence in the regime’s ongoing reforms. A closer look at the inconvenient facts suggests a different reality.
To begin with, Mr. Karamba Touray, the one who led the NAO teams preparing these revealing reports, did such a good policing job his contract was not renewed. The NAO Management Letter about Securiport, in addition to serious ‘bean counting’ issues, showed that the Office of the President, after discussions with his Cabinet, instructed others to sign the contract and its addendum. It will be interesting to learn who the Contracts Management Committee picks as the ‘scape goat’ after their investigation completes. They should have been working on it at least since Sept 2022.
Mr. Sankanu’s Press Release did not mention just how many threats to airport security – known drug dealers and terrorists, criminals on the run and bogus passport holders – have been intercepted at the airport. Securiport’s presence at the airport must have kept them away, earning Securiport millions and counting. President Barrow lamely justified the scheme for improved airport security saying Gambia’s cut of the airport collections will be used for development. Hopefully that sum will be more than losses incurred by lost tourist visits.
The NAO’s 2019 GOTG audit made some revelations about Gambia’s timber exports. President Barrow’s last timber export ban was announced December 2019, which was then temporarily lifted via a July 2020 decree. This was to allow suffering timber dealers to move their inventory 180 containers of semi-processed (illegal conflict) timber. Malagen’s investigation of the matter revealed a March 2022 letter from the The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources to the Office of the President boasting the Ministry was able to boost revenue collection by approving the export of an additional 437 containers of semi-processed conflict timber.
Apparently that was enough for CITES, the UN body implementing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. They suspended Gambia’s license to legally trade the protected Rosewood in June 2022.
The NAO 2019 GoTG audit also revealed GoTG sent US$1 mil to Senegal as their fair share of revenues earned from exporting their conflict timber. Sengal returned the funds to The Gambia. Why? Well, one reason might be they don’t want to be seen as profiting from trade in conflict timber, unlike The Gambia. How is GoTG behavior different from that of Nicolae Buzaianu of Westwood? NGO Trial International filed a criminal complaint against him in Switzerland for trading in conflict timber. Is The Gambia next? Over and out.