President
Yahya Jammeh on Wednesday at State House received the Banjul Muslim elders
after the Eid prayers.
He
informed them about the recent arrest and dismissal of some government
officials.
President
Jammeh spoke at length about corruption, and the offences allegedly committed
by some government officials.
He
first mentioned the GNPC (Gambia National Petroleum Corporation) scandal uncovered
last month, which led to the arrest and charging of ten officials, including a
former minister of petroleum and GNPC board members.
He
said they signed an agreement for the supply of petroleum to the GNPC with a
bogus oil company in Dubai, which resulted in the loss of US$12 million.
He
further said the suspects have offended the nation, and a crime of that nature
would not be pardoned.
President
Jammeh said: “I drew the attention of the former Minister of Petroleum of the
bogus oil company’s name, that such a name did not appear in the Internet -
neither on Google nor on YouTube - and I questioned why GNPC should do business
with that company, but some members of the board were trying to convince me for
the company to supply oil to GNPC.”
Talking
about the latest recent case which occurred on Tuesday 5 July 2016, which led
to the dismissal of 27 government officials, including eight permanent
secretaries, President Jammeh said this was due to an attempt to fraudulently
auction some 545 government vehicles.
He
said 545 government vehicles were to be auctioned for D4.5 million in revenue,
meaning that each car was sold for around eight thousand dalasis.
“Some
of them are brand new ones which were reported to be sold at twenty thousand
dalasis; they only ran for few months. They did not send the cars to a
qualified mechanic to know the condition of the vehicles.”
He
added that there was no report to identify the condition of the vehicles,
saying: “Only permanent secretaries, deputy permanent secretaries, or protocol
officers determined the state of the cars.”
“The
cars (to be auctioned) are now in Kotu Central workshop,” and he had invited
the GRTS to go and film them to show them to the whole country.
Meanwhile, the names of the 27 government officials involved in the matter are as follows: Yira Jammeh, Senior Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum; Momodou Saidy Leigh, (SFO) Ministry of Fisheries; Sanna Gassama, Chief Driver, Ministry of Justice; Fatoumatta Bah, (PO) Ministry of Fisheries; Roheyatou Kah, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum; Dr Cherno Barry Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education; Fafa Sanyang, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum; Cherno Njie, (TC) Ministry of Agriculture; Momodou Lamin Jammeh, (SEO) Ministry of Lands; Bernard Mendy, Director of Protocol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Malang Jammeh, Chief Driver, Ministry of Trade; Abdoulie Jallow, Protocol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Aja Fatou Gaye, (SDC) Dept of Physical Planning; Abdoulie Jallow, Principal Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Regional Government; Abdoulie Jallow, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance; Famara Darboe, former Ag. Director, Ministry of Fisheries; Naffie Barry, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade; Lamin Ceesay, Chief Driver, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Kaideng Sambou, (PO) Ministry of Finance; Jerreh Sanyang, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education; Habib Jarra, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Tijan Jeng, (PO) Ministry of Information Communication Infrastructure; Lamin Sanneh, Permanent Secretary (2) Ministry of Lands; Lamin Camara, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information Communication & Infrastructure; Ousainou B. Jorbateh, (DoCV) Ministry of Lands; Aminata Samega-Janneh, Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Trade; and Abdoulie Jarra, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries.
The
Gambian leader also on the same day announced the banning of child marriage and
forced marriage in the country.
He
said a law to that effect will be enacted by the National Assembly, latest 21
July 2016.
“As
from today, child marriage under 18 years is illegal in The Gambia,” President
Jammeh declared.
“The
Ministry of Interior should work with the Ministry of Local Government, and the
Ministry of Information should disseminate the information before 22 July.”
Jammeh
stated further that the law will come with penalties, against parents, husbands
of victims and fathers who will be jailed for 20 and 21 years; and religious
leaders who preside over the marriage will face the consequences.
“Those
that force their daughters to get married to husbands not their choice will be
jailed for 10 years.”
The
President added that no individual will be given the leverage to seek external
support for its implementation, as in the case of FGM which was used by other
institutions to gather support from international donors like the EU.”
He
said child marriage exposes victims who are under 18 to numerous diseases that
affect their health condition.
He
proposed a 20 years sentence for culprits.
President
Jammeh also called on regional governors, chiefs, and the police to report
suspected cases, and said any attempt to hide information and the commissioning
of such crimes “will cost the suspects dearly”.
The
President also spoke of reports of murder, armed robbery and baby dumping in
the Upper River Region, pointing out that he had turned a new page since the
21st anniversary of the July 22nd
Revolution, when he pardoned several prisoners, but warned that anybody
found wanting will face the full force of the law without mercy.
Jammeh
warned armed robbers in URR, saying recently they killed one person in the
area; and he promised that security agents would do their best to apprehend
them and punish them according to the law.
“I
will make sure peace and tranquility prevails in this country,” Jammeh assured
his audience.
