After I sent my last posting, I received private mail from a concerned
Gambian (no relations to Batchi Baldeh or the people I mentioned in the
mail), raising questions about the harshness of some of my utterances. I
already dealt with the gentleman but I thought it might be necessary to send
you the Independent article I was reacting to. I see Alimenta written all
over this. You have slime balls like Amadou Samba, Tarik Musa and Baba Jobe
going around black-balling people. They come with all sorts of dubious
proposals and get us entangled in deals that are not good for the ordinary
Gambians. These vermin are only after their pockets. We had a relatively
good deal with Alimenta until Baba Jobe brought his corrupt and hustler
friends into the country. Thanks to Baba Jobe and a moron like Yaya, the
Alimenta fiasco is going to cost the Gambian taxpayers $12 million. I am not
even talking about the hardship that debacle continues to visit on our
farmers up to this day.

As Hamjatta was saying about the illegal economy we have back home, Samba,
Musa and Jobe have shown again that they can get rid of any government
functionary that stands in their way. The way they do that, is to line
Yaya's pockets with dollars. It is crazy that this very Batchi Baldeh
negotiated the contract that led to Conteh's demise. Now he is reportedly
negotiating another one. But what they should know is that we know that they
cannot raise the dollars involved here without going outside to beg for
money. Granted, they can hood-wink rogue nations like Taiwan. But let me
tell them that we will unmask them before all the decent nations and lending
organizations like the AfDB and the World Bank. Corrupt businesses lining up
to do business with Yaya and his cartel are also doing so at their own
peril. When we get rid of Yaya, none of these illegal arrangements will be
honored.

Another message I would like to convey is that people that want to plead on
behalf of the Batchi Baldehs of this world are entitled to their views. But
they should realize that they would be doing themselves and the Batchi
Baldehs of this world, a better favor if they tell people like Batchi to
stay away from Yaya's corruption. When the day of reckoning comes, only a
person's good deeds would grant him immunity. In the face of blatant
evidence of corruption, there will be no mercy.
KB

________________________________________________________________________________
More revelations on the removal of the NAWEC MD
Following the removal of the managing director of the National Water and
Electricity Corporation (NAWEC) Alhagie Conteh on January 18 over
allegations of impropriety, unimpeachable sources have intimated to The
Independent that even though he signed the contract with Man and B&W in the
United Kingdom for the supply of a 6 megawatt Mirrlees Blackstone generator
in anticipation of the $5 million Taiwanese loan, but that the contract was
actually negotiated by Batchi Baldeh before his removal as managing director
in 1998.
The sources further alleged that shortly prior to the removal of Alhagie
Conteh, some close friends of President Jammeh, Baba Jobe, Amadou Samba of
Gamsen and Tarik Musa of T.K.Motors had approached Alhagie Conteh to
allegedly "convince" him to sign another contract for the supply of an 18
megawatt generator by Global Trading, a Dutch company. However, according to
our sources, Mr. Conteh declined to sign the documents brought to him by the
three gentlemen, which was allegedly prepared by their attorney Sheriff
Tambadou, on the grounds that he did not agree with the terms of the
contract, as well as the cost of the generator.
It was however alleged that he was threatened with dismissal within 48 hours
if he failed to sign the contract, but that he still refused to sign.
Consequently, he was removed a few days later by the Office of the
President, accused of inflating the contract with MAN and B&W for the supply
of the Mirrlees Blackstone generator. Our sources revealed that Amadou Samba
and Tarik Musa accompanied by their attorney Sheriff Tambadou later met with
the newly appointed managing director of NAWEC Batchi Baldeh on January 19
and subsequently, the contract with Global Trading for the supply of the 18
megawatt generator was allegedly signed by NAWEC.
The sources also alleged that a senior official of the NAWEC generation
department Mustapha Corr together with some other officials were questioned
by the NIA on the matter, and that Mr. Corr confirmed to them that the
contract for the Mirrlees Blackstone engine was negotiated by Batchi Baldeh
before his removal. He also allegedly told the NIA that Mr. Conteh signed
the contract in anticipation of the Taiwanese loan. The NIA are said to be
investigating the matter.
When contacted for his reaction to the story, Amadou Samba confirmed that he
together with some other people went to NAWEC on behalf of Global Trading,
but he denied that any contract was signed. "There was nothing like a
contract. We never took any contract to Alhagie Conteh. That is not true,"
he said. He added that Global Trading are the representatives of "a
reputable" Dutch company who have supplied generators to Mali, Guinea Bissau
and Burkina Faso. Therefore, he said the company came to The Gambia to make
an offer, "since they knew that we were looking for generators".
He stated that after having some ideas as to the type of generators NAWEC
uses, the company offered to manufacture the same quality generators for
NAWEC at $700,000 to $800,000 less that the normal cost of similar
generators. Therefore, he said before making the offer, the company had to
visit NAWEC to see their facilities, which he said, was the reason why they
visited NAWEC, "but nothing like signing a contract". He also refuted
allegations of them threatening Alhagie Conteh with sacking if he failed to
sign the contract. On the question of Sheriff Tambadou drafting the contract
agreement, Mr.
Samba said, "I have nothing to do with that. It is not my company and I am
not a shareholder. I am just a Gambian business man and normally if somebody
comes here and gets in touch with me, I can go with him naturally, but I
have absolutely no interest in this thing". However, on the issue of him and
Tarik Musa going to Batchi Baldeh for him to sign the Global Trading
contract, Mr. Samba said; "this came afterwards, because I think when they
compared the Dutch offer, they must have seen that it was about 11 to 12
million Dalasis cheaper.
Naturally, I think Global Trading had to sign a contract with Batchi Baldeh,
but not with Amadou Samba or any other party". When contacted, Tarik Musa
said he did not know anything about the matter. However, attempts to talk to
Baba Jobe were unsuccessful as he was said to have gone to attend a funeral
in Libya. Attempts also to talk to both Alhagie Conteh and Batchi Baldeh
were unsuccessful.

_________________________________________________________________
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