Mama
Fatima Singhateh, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has said corruption
is the foremost enemy to the development of a nation, especially in developing
countries.
The
Justice Minister made this remark at the commencement of a two-day awareness
raising and validation workshop on the Draft Anti-Corruption Bill 2016 of The
Gambia, held yesterday at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.
The
bill seeks to establish an Anti-Corruption Commission and also provides
offences aimed at fighting against corruption.
The
Justice Minister describes corruption as a broad term covering a wide range of
misuse of entrusted funds and power for private gain, through the use of
dishonest or unethical conduct by a person entrusted with a position of
authority.
She
said: “Corruption in any country weakens the framework of government agencies.
It therefore has a negative impact on national development and is without doubt
the number one enemy to the progress and development of any country, especially
developing countries.”
Additionally,
she noted, the effects of corruption also “undermine” the principles of
democracy and good governance.
“It
is, therefore, important for all of us to harness our efforts to eradicate
corruption and corrupt practices in the country.”
Minister
Fatima Singhateh also said the Gambia government, under “the active leadership
of President Yahya Jammeh has not relented in its effort to continue promoting
the advancement and improvement of all government institutions and services,
subject to the public service accountability”.
Public
service accountability, transparency and good governance are global issues in
government administrations in all countries, but most especially in developing
countries where issues of human rights abuses, nepotism, misappropriation of state funds and other resources, fraud,
bribery, to name but a few, have become the order of the day.
The
Minister said upon becoming aware of “the disturbing prevalence of corruption
in the country and recognizing its seriousness as a problem”, the Gambia
government “has expressed its commitment to tackle and control the menace its
poses and thus, the government is ready to put in place the required
legislative and infrastructural framework to fight this problem”.
The
draft Anti-Corruption Act under review is not only for the establishment of the
Commission, but also a tool through which the Commission would be empowered to
fight corruption and corrupt practices through investigation, prosecution, and
asset recovery.
“With
its negative impact on the national economy and infrastructure, the prevention
requires the efforts of all stakeholders in government, non-government and
civil society organisations to entrench good governance and activate competent
internal control systems.
“This
would enable us to raise awareness and provide comprehensive and correct
information regarding the nature, extent and impact of corruption along with
available anti-corruption measures.
“The
Anti-Corruption Commission is, therefore, going to be the competent authority
responsible for raising awareness on corruption by taking the necessary action
for prevention and investigation of alleged corruption cases.”
With
the enactment of the Act and the subsequent establishment of the Commission,
“the Government of The Gambia is ready to not only implement the provisions of
the United Nations Convention Against Corruption at the domestic level, but to
also coordinate and cooperate with other nations and offer legal assistance
where needed to curb economic and organised crime related activities across our
borders”.
She
also said in preventing and combating corruption, the civil society and the
media have a very important role to play by raising public awareness, and
“holding government accountable”.
Minister
Singhateh further stated: “The Government of The Gambia believes that our
collective efforts over the past several years have been fruitful in advancing
our ultimate goal, and we look forward to more partnership and coordination to
improve the effectiveness of our collective efforts.”
She
thanked the UNDP for their continued support and collaboration in realizing the
anti-corruption bill.
