Hon. Alhagie Mbowe, member of the committee grilled Tambadou over why a newly formed private office was entrusted with sensitive state assets while the state owned AMRC was sidelined, and why he later intervened in a personal land application for his own estate agent, raising conflict of interest concerns.
At the heart of the testimony was Alpha Capital Advisory, a firm registered in 2017 and contracted less than two years later to oversee the disposal of Jammeh’s seized assets.
Hon. Mbowe, pressed Tambadou on the rationale, insisting “why appoint a company barely two years old, with no track record in receivership, over seasoned Gambian institutions?”
“Alpha Capital was not appointed. It was Mr. Alpha Barry, in his personal capacity, who was engaged as receiver. The appointment letter was addressed to him directly. This misinformation about Alpha Capital must stop,” Tambadou said.
The MP argued that Barry’s fees, commissions, and high-profile sales such as the GPA building for D1 million and the Central Bank’s purchase of the Future Lake Building for D100.5 million proved that serious government assets were entrusted to a virtual newcomer.
The most heated exchanges came when lawmakers challenged Tambadou’s refusal to use the Assets Management and Recovery Corporation (AMRC), a state-owned body created by law to handle asset disposal.
The Janneh Commission had flagged questionable dealings at AMRC and recommended further probing. Tambadou seized on that as justification to exclude the institution.
“It would have been irresponsible for government to entrust AMRC with asset disposal after the Commission found it had colluded with the former president,” Tambadou told MPs.
But Hon. Mbowe hit back, calling it victimisation of a government body.
“If every institution complicit under Jammeh is punished, even the Ministry of Justice should be shut down. Why single out AMRC?”
Tambadou countered: “The Commission’s findings were clear. Entrusting AMRC again would be like giving stolen property back to the thief to manage.”
Hon Sulayman Jammeh also a member of the committee confronted Tambadou over his intervention in a land application at the Gambia Tourism Board on behalf his personal estate agent.
“You were Attorney General. She was your employee, managing your properties. How is it not a conflict of interest to lobby government institutions for her business?” he pressed.
Tambadou dismissed the accusation stating
“She was my estate agent, not my subordinate. I simply followed up on her application like I had done for many Gambians, including National Assembly Members themselves. This is not a crime, and certainly not a conflict.”
Hon. Jammeh further asked: “She worked for you, under your authority. That is precisely the conflict,” further accusing Tambadou of blurring personal and official roles.
Tambadou defended his record as “guided by integrity and rooted in his self-described doctrine of the Three Ps: Planning, Preparation, and Personnel.”
He boasted that he personally headhunted key figures in the TRRC, the CRC, and the Human Rights Commission.
