Corruption was given as the fundamental reason for the take over, and
eventhough some serious skepticism was apparant wihin the public,  as to the
credibility of the young soldiers, but   the issue of rampant corruption was
convincing enough. Immediately following their take over, commission of
enquiries were put in place to tackle this cancer. The main sermon on rampant
corruption, accountability and transparency were the attractive features that
led us to the young soldiers, and the commission of enquries were the
justification for their commitment to putting things right.
At a recent meeting in Brikama, the Ret.Colonel went back to his favorite
sermon, and gave his usual threats. Unfortunately, President Jammeh is
finding himself in a worst situation for any leader; people are beginning to
see him as funny, riduculous, hypocritical and not to be trusted. People are
now laughing at his threats, and very much questioning his commitment to
fighting corruption.
It is about time for the Colonel to understand that if he is serious about
fighting corruption, the whole approach should be of a genuine nature. It is
not about threats and punishment, but rather creating a genuine framework and
controls to fight this terrible cancer. Corruption is not brought about
because of Gambian's propensity to be corrupted, but rather a lacked of a
genuine framework and controls. Most Gambians working in the US, or Europe
can see how corruption can become less of an issue, eventhough they are the
same people with supposedly propensity to be corrupted.
Most public enterprises in the Gambia do not have  workable effective
Accounting and Auditing departments. Most Managing Directors and Financial
Directors are not very crazy about having the necessary controls to protect
public property. Audited Financial Statements are seldom produce, and  Board
of Directors and Management are much more comfortable with this lack of
controls. Most Managing Directors from these public enterprises are not
accountabdle for results and performance, and they are absolutely convinced
that accountability is nothing but a rhetoric.
 If President Jammeh is serious in fighting corruption, how willing is he to
invite outside auditors to audit Office of the President. Sir, if you want to
be taken seriously on your crusade to fight corruption, save us the rhetoric
and threats, and more on genuine action oriented framework. Finally,
corruption will become less of an issue if you demonstrate the required
leadership traits to fight this cancer.

Musa Jeng

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