(Wednesday 16th October 2019 Issue)
Since
the removal of Madam Fatoumata Jallow- Tambajang from office as Vice President,
she made numerous unguarded and unfounded allegations against me and other
public officials regarding the motivations for her removal.
She
first made the allegations during a media interview she granted on October 15th, 2018 at the
ceremony grounds for the launching of
the TRRC. Out of respect forher and the Office she had occupied, her
accusations werepolitely ignored as every individual directly affected by her remarks knew what the truth was. The
inconsistent and contradictory
narratives that emanated from her
numerous media interviews regarding her sacking are enough to convince all discerning people that
she has an axe to grind.
The
VP serves at the pleasure of the President and the President can remove the VP
without offering any reason at all. I would not have bothered to respond to the
statements, but where allegations of impropriety have been made, itis imperative to address the matter on the basis of facts. Moreover, the former VP has thrown down the gauntlet for anybody to challenge her assertions.
In her recent sit-down interview with Kerr Fatou TV Programme,she stated that I had a vendetta against her and that Ousainu Darboe and I orchestrated her removal from Office. I have had no vendetta against her. But the moment she became Vice President, her behaviour was no longer compatible with her words. Yet , she was always regarded as a mother and was treated as such. Her personal relationship with me is a longstanding one.
On the contrary, she initiated an ill-considered text-message with the clear aim of lambasting and upbraiding me and my staff for her ‘difficult and embarrassing experience’ at New York’s JFK Airport by security while on a poorly planned journey to Chile for a meeting. The trip was not officially communicated to the Permanent Mission.
A
large part of the communication concerning that trip was all conducted through the WhatsApp
messaging platform. The ticket was
procured the night before the travel and
as a result she was not able to travel on the
same route with her Protocol Officer. Her security officer was left in
New York and could not proceed to Chile for
lack of a ticket and poor arrangements. She travelled to Chile without these essential personnel.
I
as the Ambassador and the Mission staff still went to the airport over a
weekend and assisted her and the people travelling with her. Instead of
thanking us, she sent an ill-considered text message to me, which raised
serious questions about her temperament
and judgment as a person occupying the
high office of Vice President.
The tone was demeaning and beneath the office of the VP.
Despite
all the shock and disappointment that her text
message occasioned, she received a polite and cultured response, which sought to dispel her
erroneous assertions and further tame her emotional outburst. A Vice-President
should not embark on poorly planned trips,
especially, those that could expose the occupant to denial of privileges
and courtesies normally accorded to such officials.
Coming to the VP’s trip to the 62nd Session of The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the logistical arrangements were always facilitated by the Mission in New York. Under the former Government, the former VP and her delegation used to attend the sessions of the Commission and the Mission would facilitate the arrangements for their visit to and stay in New York. Her visit to New York for the 61st session of the CSW was facilitated in a similar manner.
In
this instance, the Mission facilitated the usual hiring of vehicles on similar
terms as in the past with the hiring of vehicles from a Gambian Rental Group in
New York under the leadership of one Mr.
Essa Jaiteh. For more than seven years,
this group of Gambianshave consistently
provided diligent transportation services to various Gambian delegations, especially
the Presidential Delegations to the
United Nations.
In
the case of the 62nd Session of the CSW, the VP led the delegation and a number of different vehicles
were hired for use by the delegation. In
view of the duration of their stay in New York rates were calculated at the
usual agreed rate with his group and an
invoice was obtained. Their rate, as compared to other transport service
providers, is below the market rate. The
Group rendered their services on the
basis of the usual understanding that they would be paid their money at the end of the agreed time. At
the time the delegation was departing,
the money for the hotel accommodation and transportation was not even wired to
the Mission’s
Account
in New York. By the checking-out time, when the
VP was departing her New York hotel, the bill had not been settled. The
transport bill was also not settled. I had to
negotiate with the hotel to allow the delegation to depart on the guarantee that the Mission would settle
the bill the following week. In the
course of those negotiations, the VP had
to even call the then Finance Minister,Mr. Amadou Sanneh, the Accountant General and even some
senior officials at the Central Bank to
facilitate the transfer of the funds. There
were suggestions, at the time, to even borrow
funds from a Gambian businessman in New York to settle the hotel bill on
the day but that was aborted. In essence, the VP never actually travelled with the hotel and
transport funds to New York as claimed
in her interview. If it were not for the
goodwill and longstanding relations that the Mission had with these
service providers, a major national embarrassment could have occurred.
To
make another point clear, at the same hotel, the VP was offered other choice of suites with lower
rates in New York but she chose the
suite with a higher rate which
contradicts her claim that she was trying to save The Gambia some money.
On
the question of paying the Transport Group over $21,000 for their services: the invoice was shared
with her Office. The overall wire transfer authorised for the trip’s
expenditure was $32,000.00 (hotel accommodation, transport services,
miscellaneous expenses). It was after returning to The Gambia when the services
were already rendered that the Office of the VP raised concerns in an email
whilst the Group was waiting for their money. To the surprise of everyone
involved, it was claimed that the bill was high and the VP would not approve
its payment. In the interim, the money was wired upon the delegation’s return
to The Gambia.
The
hotel bill was settled by Mission through a cheque.
The Mission brought the issues raised by the VP’s Office regarding the transport bill to the attention of the transport group with a view to seeing whether they could reduce the amount. The group agreed to knock off about $3,000 from the $21,000 and it came down to $18,680. The balance that was left after the hotel bill and entertainment expenses were settled amounted to about $15,000, which was less than the amount owed to the transporters. They were paid $15,000 and a balance of over $3,000 remained outstanding. This outstanding amount has still not been settled as it was the diktat of the VP that she was only going to approve $10,000. She never made any effort to get that outstanding balance paid. The records concerning how the money was disbursed are incorporated in the Mission’s books of account, which are kept at the Accountant General’s Department.
The
Mission brought this to the attention of the transporters and they said they were going to leave it to
God. Where is the money that she alleges that I have taken when over $3000
is owed to innocent and hardworking Gambians
to this day?
Contrast
this with what she said in her interview and draw your own conclusion. Is this the way a VP
should conduct business on behalf of the
Government? I did not touch a dime of that money and the Mission’s Deputy Head
who is the Accounting Officer and the
Finance Attache’ bear witness.
Contrary
to what was alleged every approving authority was fully aware of how the payments were done and
properly accounted for in line with
Government accounting procedures. Why would the then Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Ousainu Darboe, waste his time
to investigate an allegation that is
without merit when the accounting records are very clear?
Why
would the Accountant General waste his time to ask someone to pay back money when that money is
only a figment of someone’s fertile and wild imagination? Could the former VP who described herself as
a humble servant of God and a paragon of virtue shed light on the issue of her so-called Personal Assistant
she took to New York at the expense of the
state for CSW61 and never attended a
single meeting?
A
point that also needs clarification is that the former VP stated that she was given ‘a very small car’
and her immediate entourage was given the Mission’s van. The car in question is
the Mission’s flag car-the number one that the Ambassador uses and it is a E350 Mercedes Benz. Almost
all Gambian dignitaries have used the flag car at one time or the other without
any fuss. The van is the utility van of the Mission. The Ambassador and staff
allowed the use of these by the VP and her entourage for the reason that they can access the
United Nations compound and also park at its garage for pick-up and drop-off.
It
was for the convenience of the VP that the Mission’s vehicles were assigned to her and her
entourage. As a consequence of that
arrangement, the Ambassador, staff and
some delegates lodged at the Ambassador’s residence used one of the rented vehicles to go to and from
work (New Jersey to New York). It was always crowded with seven people. The other rented vehicles were used
to ferry delegates residing in the Bronx to and from their meetings as well
as between errands to the hotel and
other parts of the city. For those who may wonder as to the cost involved, the
hiring of vehicles also includes the
services of designated chauffeurs, toll
and fuel expenses. This particular group of Gambian drivers do not even ask for overtime pay.
On
the question of the letter allegedly addressed to UNEP was in fact addressed to
the UN Secretary- General (Attn: Executive Director, UN-Habitat) with a view to recommending a Gambian national
as a candidate for a job at the UN-Habitat. The former VP is on record as saying that it was not addressed to the UN
but UNEP.
She
also denied that she signed off on such a letter as “Acting President”. She
later corrected herself in the second interview that she gave to Kerr Fatou TV
on 10th October 2019 that she in fact
admitted signing off the said letter as “Acting President”. She alleged in her
earlier interview in October 2018 that her letter was changed by the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. Nothing could be
further from the truth. Nobody change that letter and the Mission only saw it
the day after the deadline for
submission of the job application. The letter was not a requirement. The
Mission submitted the job application before midnight of the deadline date of 8
May 2019 (Nairobi time) even whereas it
was not required to do so. There was a
designated email address through which it could have been submitted from Banjul. In submitting the
application, the Mission even went
further to forward all the relevant
attachments under the cover of a note verbale which also vouched for the character of the applicant as
a person not involved in human rights
violations or criminality. Emails, text
messages and relevant documents concerning this unfortunate saga are available to shed light
on the truth. You may also want to listen to her other interview clip with Gambia Talents Promotion TV widely available
on YouTube.
I
would like to be on record that I was merely doing my job by intercepting the letter wrongly addressed
to the UN Secretary General in addition
to mistakes contained therein. It is an open secret that she is on record for
breaking protocols and I drew the
attention of people close to her to advise her to pay heed to state protocols
and symbols.
The
point, however, has to do with her unfounded allegation that Minister Darboe and I engineered her
sacking and changed her letter. Nothing
could be further from the truth.
There
is nothing on record as to the reasons for her removal from Office by the President. At no point in
the email exchange regarding the job
application was Minister Darboe privy. I never advised President Barrow to sack
her.
This
is pure conjecture. Is it the chain of succession that happened after her removal which prompted her
to put out a conspiracy theory regarding
Ousainu Darboe and I? All members of the
Cabinet serve at the pleasure of the President. Repeating an untrue narrative
or speculating as to the motivations for
her sacking can only be borne out of
misplaced bitterness.
Accepting
the will of Allah SWT is an essential element of Iman for all God-fearing
people. The Office of the Vice President is the second highest office in the
Executive Branch of our country and
anything that emanates from there should be worthy of our collective respect. Respect is earned. Allah
SWT commands us to repent and seek forgiveness for our verbal transgressions.
‘The
truth shall set you free’!
Signed:
Dr.
Mamadou Tangara