In the same spirit I counseled here the other day that Subscribers versed in
certain areas should try and draw out working papers for the Opposition as
we move to October 2001, I will attempt to get the ball rolling by setting
out what I hope will be the first post in a series of posts addressing HOW
the Opposition is going to better the lot of Gambians when it is elected
after the 2001 elections. I welcome criticism of these suggestions and I
hope in the final analysis the Opposition on the ground would see these
suggestions as merely trying to supplement the brilliant plans they already
have in their arsenal. Now, there is no turning back. APRC CANNOT steal some
of our good ideas and implement them in order to win votes. They have
woefully failed the Gambian people and they CANNOT put sand over this wound.

Today I would like to talk about 'ASSET RECOVERIES'. At the onset let me
categorically say that this is NOT about 'Asset Evaluation' and kangaroo
courts. Rather than assuming that people are guilty from the onset and
shifting the burden on them to prove that they are not corrupt, we are going
to come up with solid FACTS to prove AFPRC/APRC corruption. We will hoist
the vermin to regular courts. Try them like all common criminals. Seize
their ill-gotten gains and sell them for the common good.

We are going to establish a SPECIAL COURT manned by two of our top Gambian
judges. We will clear the docket for these judges and transfer all their
regular cases to some of those foreign judges that would still be in the
country.

We will form a crack team of investigators headed by a top-notch PROSECUTOR.
The investigating team will be given wide powers to probe bank transfers and
all sorts of transactions these vermin have been engaged in. One of the
first pieces of legislation our new president would want to pass would be an
'Act establishing the office of this special prosecutor'. This body can be
an appendage of the AG Chambers. But the prosecutor need not be an employee
of AG Chambers. The prosecutor and his team of lawyers and investigators
(accountants, police officers, journalists etc.) will be given wide powers
to decide what cases to prosecute and what plea bargains (immunity) to
accept in order to get to the millions of dollars these vermin stole from
us.

As soon as practicable under our laws, we should freeze all the ill-gotten
gains of the vermin. We should seize all their travel documents to prevent
them from absconding. All can be done through court orders. To investigate,
try, convict and punish these vermin should NOT take long. They are so
stupid and arrogant that they have NOT covered their tracks sufficiently.
Take for instance the 'complaint' Yaya filed in Swiss Courts on January 16,
1996. The vermin used our own AG's Chambers and Gambian taxpayers' money to
fight a court battle in Switzerland against Ebou Jallow. Apart from the
storied US $3 million Yaya transferred from the Gambian Central Bank to a
personal Swiss account at Credit Lyonnais, Yaya also claimed against Ebou
Jallow the staggering sum of US $20 (twenty) million which was deposited at
the Citibank N.A. New York branch in Geneva.

The vermin CANNOT deny this. There are public court documents to prove what
I am saying. Now, is the then Attorney General of The Gambia (in 1996) going
to stand up and say that the moneys recovered from Ebou Jallow went into
Gambian coffers? As you can see, getting to the bottom of these cases is
piece of cake. There are somewhat similar court documents cataloguing their
shenanigans in the Nigerian Crude Oil Deal. Moneys that changed hands with
corporations like CSE in order to grant them government contracts would also
be easy to prove. To prove that Tarik Musa and Amadou Samba do NOT own
Yaya's plane is also child's play.

We should work swiftly (with due process of course) to recover these
ill-gotten gains. The moneys we recover will go a long way in financing some
of our most urgent projects. Rather than taking out loans and further
burdening our children, let us pounce on Yaya and his cronies and seize
their ill-gotten gains. We should endeavor to strip the vermin naked in the
FIRST 100 DAYS of the new Administration.

Recap: pass a law to establish the office of a special prosecutor. Give the
prosecutor a budget and powers to investigate and prosecute corruption case;
while Yaya and his cohorts are at Mile Two courtesy of real court orders.
Take aside two Gambian judges and clear their dockets. Parade the vermin on
National TV and show the whole world what the mental midgets have been up to
the past seven years.

I again respectfully urge subscribers to critique my points and also come up
with other suggestions as to what we are going to do for the Gambian people
AFTER Yaya. Ebrima Ceesay, I am NOT trying to single you out, but I would
think that your excellent series on 'Messages to the Gambian people' is a
good resource to use in order to look at the failures of the vermin and
provide plans that will help us avoid those failures. We also have fine
economists in our midst. Fine soldiers. Great engineers, doctors and
computer wiz. I encourage all to try and chip in. We must NOT leave our
people to the mercy of these vermin and their misinformation. As we give our
Opposition leaders material support, let us also try and share with them
good ideas that will move the country forward when we get rid of the vermin.
KB

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