The newly elected leader of the opposition All People’s Party (APP’s) Dr. Ebrima Jagne, is of the view that the Barrow coalition government hasn’t done much in fighting corruption and vowed that if he is elected to office, an APP government, would exercise zero tolerance against official corruption. The renowned medical doctor, turned politician, notes that there is no political will in combating corruption, which he warns, is an affront to national development. “There is corruption in The Gambia. I think there is corruption, and the government hasn’t put anything in place to stamp it out and that should be done, and an APP government will do that,” said Dr. Jagne.
Dr. Jagne was speaking in an interview with Freedom radio Gambia over the weekend. He said he is not aware of any government official, who has been tried and convicted on corruption related charges under Barrow’s rules.
Jagne opined that the government hasn’t done much in combating official graft. He added that from the President to the average government official, there is silence in fighting corruption, which he warned, is slowing national development.
“I haven’t heard government officials talking about it. The president hasn’t talk about it, if he did, he just brush it by the side, he hasn’t said much about it. There is no pronounced legislation or anything to control corruption and it is there. They know it is there,” Jagne lamented.
He further noted that such a silence culture in tackling corruption doesn’t tell well on the current Barrow leadership and the country. He said The Gambia deserves better and all hands should be on deck to tackle corruption.
“It tells me that the system needs to put some measures in place to detect corruption and deal with it seriously,” he added.
Dr. Jagne was asked to comment on President Barrow’s newly built Mankamang-kunda mansion, the fleets of cars he (Barrow) has been allocating to his newly formed National People’s Party (NPP), and wealth, in response, Jagne said the source of Barrow’s properties and wealth should be of public concern-given the short span of his rule that he had accumulated such properties.
“He has to be accountable. He has to tell the people where the money comes from. If the value of his assets for two years is more than his income, his stated Presidential income, then the state has the right to ask him where he gets his money from,” Dr. Jagne told me in a phone interview on Sunday.
“Within two years someone built a Manson, just for accountability, where does the money come from? Where does the money come from? There is no accountability. If his salary doesn’t add up to the expenditure, then the money is coming from somewhere else. That could be corrupt money,” he added.
Dr. Jagne has called on Gambians to give his APP party a chance to rule The Gambia Under an APP rule, he said, an asset evaluation commission would be set up, and officials linked to corruption must account for their corrupt practices and would face justice.
Dr. Jagne notes that borrowing money from financial partners haven’t done much in alleviating poverty in The Gambia. He said the country remains underdeveloped, while access to affordable food is a nightmare for Gambians. He added that impoverished Gambians are today finding it difficult to provide food on the table for their families because of high cost of living.
“We believe that The Gambia should be able to feed itself, we have might river that we could irrigate and not only that irrigating the bank of the river, but we can do upland crop irrigation from boreholes. We believe that we have to grow what we eat rather than depending on massive food importation. There is no question in my mine that every Gambian knows that this is a problem,” he said.
Jagne isn’t also happy with the way the government is managing the country’s natural resources. He said Gambia’s waters are now in the hands of Chinese fishermen, who are exporting our seafood to feed their pigs in China. He added that fish which was the most affordable seafood in The Gambia, has now become scarce in the country.
Jagne further noted that if Gambia’s waters are responsibly managed, it could feed the nation and its seafood could also be exported overseas to create revenue for the government.
Jagne has also called on the Barrow government to revamp the country’s security. He cited the recent incident in Sanyang, which he describes as unfortunate. He noted that any responsible government should prioritize national security and put criminals terrorizing citizens off the streets.
Dr. Jagne said he doesn’t see his APP party forming an alliance with Barrow’s NPP party in the coming elections. Jagne wants to run as a Presidential candidate.
He has criticized President Barrow of not being a man of his words. For example, he said, Barrow hasn’t honored some of the promises that he made to The Gambian people: Running a three-year transitional rule and he (Barrow) not participating in future elections were among the promises he made. That promise is now history. Barrow has reneged from it. He has formed a political party and is bracing up to take party in the December 4th Presidential election.
Meanwhile, there is a stalemate in the new constitution that he promised to pass in his “three-year rule,” now turned five year rule.
Dr Jagne also said revamping Gambia’s collapsed healthcare system, and the education sector are high on his party’s agenda if elected into office. Creating an enabling environment for foreign direct investment is also an App’s agenda.
Rescuing the collapsed economy, characterized by high bank interest rates, he went on, would also become a top priority under an APP government.
The post BREAKING NEWS: APP LEADER SAYS THERE IS CORRUPTION IN BARROW’S GOVERNMENT; AS DR. EBRIMA JAGNE CHALLENGES BARROW TO EXPLAIN THE SOURCE OF HIS WEALTH! appeared first on Freedom Newspaper.