By Kemo Kanyi
One of the former vice presidents of The Gambia OusainuDarboe, party leader of the opposition United Democratic Party, has accused President Adama Barrow of aiding corrupt practice in governance and added that no one should be surprised of that because the President himself is deeply engaged in corruption.
He said during the State of the National Address (SONA), the President mentioned corruption only twice, not up to a full sentence or a paragraph. “Fighting corruption is just a mere lip service for the Barrow government.”
“Since 30 January 2024, the anti-corruption bill was enacted. That enactment demanded the establishment of an anti-corruption commission, but until today, that commission is yet to be established after six months,” he recollected.
He said the reason that the government fails to establish the anti-corruption commission is because the President himself is deeply involved in corrupt practices.
“It should not surprise anyone that an anti-corruption commission is not set up because President Adama Barrow himself is deeply involved in corruption. This is not an accusation. I have clear evidence of what I am saying. If the president can attribute the findings of the office of the Auditor General to a “mere opinion,” this shows us that Barrow did not have any interest in fighting corruption in the country,” he stated.
He challenged the president to set up the anti-corruption commission and start its investigation with the medical supplies given to the country by Foundation 221, which was reportedly sold by the Fatou Bah Barrow Foundation as unveiled by The Republic, an investigative platform.
“I was informed that the Gambia was given a medical supply by Foundation 221, but has failed to pay their duties, and it was sold to FaBB Foundation, which also distributed it to different health centers across the country claiming ownership of that donations, denying Gambians ownership of their property. This government is living on corruption, so they wouldn’t fight against corrupt practices. Certainly, Mr. President, I challenged you to set up an anti-corruption commission and refer this matter for proper investigation of the Foundation 221 donation,” he urged.
He alleged that reports insinuating the involvement of some ranking officials within the government, therefore, need to be thoroughly investigated.
Mr Darboe further challenged President Barrow’s government to investigate the ground handling at the Gambia International Airport by Niro. “If you can kill our national enterprises for private companies, I challenge you to do a thorough investigation into this one as well after setting up the anti-corruption commission.”
On the health centers recently inaugurated by the president across the country, the former vice president said healthcare is just more than infrastructural building. “How many gynecologists or surgeons are in those health facilities?”
He blamed the president for not factoring key considerations in building the health facilities across the country.
Notwithstanding, he congratulated the Gambian President for naming those health facilities after reputable individuals in the country.
