The Independent (Banjul)
D.A. Jawo
25 October 2004
opinion
Banjul — Once again, President Jammeh seems to have re-invigorated his "electric broom" and in the past few days, he has swept into oblivion certain key personalities. As usual, he has not given any reasons why he has to unceremoniously sack the managing director of the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation, the managing director of the Gambia Ports Authority and the director general of Immigration Tamsir Jasseh, and some others.
Therefore, it was left to "Radio Kankan" to speculate the reasons for not only their unceremonious sacking but also their subsequent arrest and detention. However, in the case of Andrew Sylva, we have been told that his detention may have had something to do with his recent disclosures at the Paul Commission that a standby generating set at the Ocean Bay Hotel was taken away to Kanilai when it was requested for by President Jammeh, and that it was approved by the SSHFC board of directors. Which action, we are told, left the operations of the hotel virtually crippled due to inadequate supply of electricity.
While we are not in any way trying to prejudice whatever charges may have been proffered against Mr. Sylva, it is quite ridiculous for anyone else apart from the commission to charge him of perjury for what he may have uttered before the commission. It is certainly up to the commission to believe or not to believe anything he told them and it is not for anyone else to make an issue of it. Indeed if people know that they cannot be frank before the commission and say everything they know without risking being arrested and charged for perjury, then it is hard to see how the commission can extract the correct information from those who appear before it.
It is quite an open secret that Mr. Sylva had not only been the longest serving but also no doubt the most successful managing director the SSHFC ever had. What is more - he had also been one of the most loyal OBEs (Obedient Boy of the Empire) of the regime. During his tenure as managing director, he helped to finance many of the so-called development programmes, including some "generous" contributions he made towards the extravagant celebrations of the July 22 "Revolution".
Therefore, it is quite hard to imagine that he would be subjected to such humiliation by the same regime for the "crime" of merely telling the commission what was already known by the public.
While it is highly possible that after all these euphoria, Mr. Sylva and all the other latest victims of Operation no Compromise would, as usual be "recycled" (indeed Deen and Jasseh had been recycled once), but the action has once again, albeit temporarily deprived Gambians of services of quite competent and dedicated public servants.
While there is absolutely no question about the integrity of those chosen to take over from those who have been sacked, in the case of the former managing director of the Assets Management and Recovery Corporation who takes over the GPA, people are quite concerned about some of the moral implications. The AMRC is being investigated for some alleged impropriety and therefore everyone had expected that he should stay put until when the AMRC has been exonerated before he is redeployed to another important institution like the GPA.
The possibilities that Mr. Sylva may have been sacked and subsequently humiliated just because of the disclosures of the removal of the Ocean Bay generator to Kanilai he allegedly made at the Paul Commission seems to bring to attention the apparent role confusion of the regime. While there is no obvious justification to cripple the operations of the hotel by removing the generator to Kanilai for whatever reason, the action has once again manifested the regime's apparent insensitivity to certain things that matter. We all have an idea of the amount of money used to purchase and rehabilitate the Ocean Bay hotel, and therefore, we expected the government and everyone else to be concerned about the welfare of the people and to avoid any action that would interfere with the smooth running of the hotel.
Once again, this brings to mind the possible use (or misuse) of public properties and facilities for personal gain. While for instance the State House in Banjul is the official residence of the head of state, Kanilai is certainly not. As far as the people are concerned, President Jammeh's residence in Kanilai is his private estate (or ranch?) and as such, it would not be fair to use public money and resources for its upkeep. However, indications are that there is hardly any distinction between public and personal expenditure with regards to the Kanilai residence. President Jammeh was recently quoted telling the people that Kanilai was the only place in this country with free water and electricity supply on a 24 hour basis, which he said was financed by him, but it also needs to be acknowledged that some of those working on the production and distribution of those facilities are employees of Nawec, paid from public money. Therefore, we would tend to question whether it is fair to use the services of public service employees for the benefit of just a section of the society. If the people of Kanilai deserve free water and electricity while the rest of the country are virtually deprived of those amenities, then it should not be at public expense. What is good for Apai and Jalika should be also good for Massaneh and Jonsaba.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2004 The Independent. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
