The Justice Minister is charged with the responsibility to establish a commission, he said, “which I believe is underway. However, it is long overdue. By now we expect that the anti-corruption commission should have commenced work because of the nature of the bill and the demand of the people.”
Speaking during an interview with The Point recently, Hon. Mballow added: “I have seen government commitment to ending corruption but we still want them to expedite to make sure that the commission is set, have all the necessary resources they need to ensure effective operation, and to provide the legal framework to investigate and arraign people found wanting.”
Emphasising the need for policy guidlines to tackle corruption, he said: “When this bill was tabled before the parliament after consideration from the committee of the whole house, which I actively took part in, for the fact that I feel for every serious government, there must be serious policy guidelines that will tend to address corruption.”
He said the National Audit Office had audited many institutions and agencies and had come up with lots of queries. “However, these are opinions that need to be scrutinised to ascertain some of those claims. As a result, most of their audited reports are presented to the FPAC who further scrutinize it and make resolutions, and investigations take place.”
“The NAO is an independent body that has no interference,” he said. “I believe that is one of the ways to fight corruption if the office remains independent without public or government influence.
“We cannot develop and have political stability if the practice remains rampant. We as NAMs will continue to make sure that we are more serious in our scrutiny roles.”
The Upper Fulladou West NAM further stated: “The fight against corruption should be looked at not only in the angle of government officials; but also across all sectors, even in our homes, communities and other pertinent areas, as it is a very difficult menace to fight but we must bring all hands on deck to ensure we end corruption.”
On December 21, 2023, The Gambia’s National Assembly passed the Anti-Corruption Act, 2023, marking a turning point in the country’s collective pursuit to address public sector corruption. The bill encompasses a range of measures designed to deter, detect, and penalize corrupt practices within both the public and the private sectors.
