Hi Saul,

I agree with your observations. My emphasis though, was especially on the
political side of the issue. Interestingly, Gambia is currently running a
couple of capacity building projects financed by the World Bank. One is the
Poverty Alleviation and Capacity Building project and the other, approved in
July last year, is the Capacity Building for Economic Management project.

Both of these projects will be difficult to sustain in the absence of
macroeconomic stability and, especially, political committment to project
goals. While it will be extremely difficult to maintain fiscal discipline in
the face of spending on infrastructure projects for example, the absence of
transparency and government's notorious deliberate sacking of experienced
staff - mostly on political grounds - must necessarily go to undermine even
those institutions supposed to be strengthened by the projects.

Naturally, we must wait and see for the evaluation of these projects, but
the issue of capacity building can hardly be seperated from politcal
committment. The same thing goes for all those micro-credit schemes being
vigorously experimented upon throughout the Third World. Besides, however
you look at it, fighting corruption must begin by rigorously exercising
transparency and accountability from the very top.

Sidibeh, Stockholm/Kartong

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