Class Act. I have no doubt in my mind that you in particular and the Bank in
general mean well. The Bank might have had a lot of dead wood before Kabbaj
showed up, but from my perspective, the Organization has made a lot of
improvements that Africans should be proud of. It is by no means perfect,
but according to 'African Standards', the Bank is doing a superb job. I joke
with my friends that maybe the 'non-Regionals' have a good effect on us
Africans; AfDB being the most successful 'African' Organization. Of course
we all know that that is NOT true. Given the opportunity, Africans like your
humble self can do a superb job even running mammoth institutions like the
World Bank.

Having said that, I am sure we also realize that having Rules in the Bank's
Documents is one thing. Implementing those Rules is something entirely
different. The Procurement Rules are great. But we begin to have problems
when we want to monitor the correct implementation of those Rules. How do we
for instance detect hanky-panky between Yaya and CSE when AfDB gives Gambia
a loan to build a road from Brikama to WestField? Mental midgets like Famara
Jatta can present neat Procurement Rules to mirror what the AfDB wants on
the surface. Some AfDB official in Abidjan will look at the Famara Jatta
documents and the 'bids' presented to the Gambian government. The official
will even go to Gambia and talk to government officials and some of the
'bidders'.

What the 'investigation' (monitoring of the procurement process) will NOT
readily reveal, is that CSE is perhaps (at the same time of the bidding
process) building Yaya a mansion in Kanilai free of charge. What the
'investigation' will NOT reveal is that Famara Jatta is also building a
mansion from certain materials and manpower supplied by CSE. What the
'investigation' will NOT reveal is that Famara Jatta will show CSE the
'bids' from CSE's competitors so that CSE can 'under-bid' the competition.
What will also NOT be clear to AfDB is that even before the money is
disbursed to Gambia, CSE would have already put in their own money towards
the project thus tying the hands of our illegal government, forcing our
government to award CSE the contract. The investigators will not also know
that the other bidders would have been intimidated by NIA thugs to be silent
about the hanky-panky between the government and CSE.

The criminals back home are corrupt to the core. This same scenario plays
out in the energy industry as well. It plays out in the communication
industry. The Heath and Education sectors. Contractors will NOT be awarded
these contracts (funded by Aid Agencies) UNLESS they scratch somebody's
back. It is an open secret in The Gambia that if an 'Independent Contractor'
does not play ball with Yaya and his cohorts, the contractor will be paid a
visit by the NIA thugs. I forgot the name of some semi-illiterate guy a
friend told me about. Apparently, Yaya took this moron from no where and
overnight made him a dalasi millionaire by giving him one of our road
'projects'. Needless to say, the moron blew it. Could not perform the
contract efficiently and lost all the money that was given to him. Many
Gambians can come forward with similar stories of how inept and corrupt
people were granted government contracts while the NIA intimidate genuine
contractors. We all know that Yaya and Famara Jatta are up to no good. Let
Yaya explain how he got money to finance the villas and bunker CSE built for
him in Kanilai; and the artificial lake and the zoo; not to mention the
fencing around villages near kanilai. This is just one illustration showing
how difficult it is to help Africans. The Bank is NOT the problem. The
problem is the low-lives stealing from us.

Another way of looking at things is to examine the Books of The Gambia. I do
not know whether AfDB monitors the economic climate in Gambia like the World
Bank and IMF does. Suffice for me to say that IMF in particular that looks
at books from the Central Bank of The Gambia should be in no doubt that the
vermin are stealing from the people in order to lead 'flamboyant' lifestyles
while our farmers suffer in Kiang and Baddibu. Under normal circumstances
ALL foreign currency (in the form of aid or loans) coming into the country
should filter through the Central Bank. This procedure of course does not
include the brief-cases filled with the dollars from Taiwan. Those moneys
(cash) are transported by Yaya's cronies straight from the plane to the
State House. Granted that AfDB will not allow funds from the Bank be
transported by Famara Jatta in a brief case. My thinking is that AfDB will
transfer the money directly to one of the Gambia government foreign accounts
monitored by the Central Bank. That money is then commingled with other
funds in our 'Reserves' before it is credited to the government's local
dalasi accounts. Now, because AfDB or the World Bank or IMF or the EU is
contributing towards the Reserves, is it asking too much to tell those
organizations to monitor the moneys Yaya (personally) withdraws from the
Central Bank? This is merely a rhetorical question that does not demand an
answer from you.

Let us, for a moment, forget about the stage when the AfDB dollars are
converted to dalasis and paid to contractors in accordance with your
Procurement Policies. The hanky-panky begins long before that stage. Let us
first of all examine why on earth Central Bank should transfer  millions of
dollars to a private Swiss Bank account opened on behalf of Yaya. If Aid
Agencies cannot solve that conundrum, i.e. cannot explain why money meant
for the Gambian poor is finding its way in Yaya's personal coffers, should
they still allow their aid money to be commingled in an account where Yaya
can just pick up a phone and transfer millions of dollars from? This is
another rhetorical question.

But the point being made is that: is it moral (not to mention smart) for aid
agencies to continue giving to tyrants like Yaya when everyone knows that
the money is not reaching the people it is meant for? Our debt burden has
sky-rocketed during Yaya's watch, yet our people are poorer. To me, this
shows that the money is not going to the right people. My beliefs are
confirmed when I see Judgments from Swiss Courts categorically stating that
Yaya ordered Central Bank officials to transfer millions of dollars to his
personal bank accounts. As I said earlier, institutions such as yours and
the World Bank are beginning to take this vice more seriously. We can still
do a better job. We should endeavor to balance the desire to punish the
criminals with the need to help our poor. We should come up with innovative
ways of ensuring that our pro-poor policies help the poor people. Let us try
and remove the tyrants from the equation.

I thank you again for your invaluable contributions.
KB



>From: Sidi Sanneh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Prevention and Control of Corruption in AfDB-financed Operations
>Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 11:06:27 -0500
>
>Several of you, particularly Messrs Dampha and Touray, have raised the
>issue of corruption in your reaction to the $500,000 grant from the AfDB to
>The Gambia to help alleviate the suffering recently experienced by rural
>population in NBD, CRD and URD.  Mr. Dampha and others wondered what the
>AfDB is doing or can do to ensure that the resources provided are utilised
>solely for the purposes for which they were intended.  Please find below
>excerpts of AfDB policy on corruption/good governance applicable to all
>RMCs, which, I hope, will partially answer some of your concerns, and help
>allay fears:
>
>“…the Agreement establishing the African Development Bank, requires…that
>proceeds of any loan made or guaranteed by it are used ONLY (emphasis mine)
>for the purposes for which the loan was granted, with due attention to
>considerations of economy and efficiency.  The spirit of this requirement
>broadly guided the rules of procedure for the procurement of goods and
>services laid down by the Bank in 1980.  These rules and procedures were
>significantly revised in 1996 and 1999.  It is now possible for the Bank to
>cancel part of or an entire loan or grant if the procurement procedure is
>tainted by acts of fraud or corruption.  Similarly, the Bank may SANCTION
>(again, emphasis mine) a firm found guilty of fraud or corruption following
>a special audit or judiciary decision.”
>
>“ At the internal level, the Bank has earmarked resources, prepared
>documentation and perfected procedures to ensure that the procurement
>process is as transparent as possible, and enables a close monitoring in
>which contracts financed with bank loan and grant resources are awarded.
>Through the establishment of the Procurement Review Committee, the Bank can
>at all times, receive and examine complaints by bidders who are not
>satisfied with the way in which their bids were processed by borrowers or
>executing agencies.  This Committee is INDEPENDENT and its decisions, which
>can even lead to cancellation of the PROCUREMENT PROCESS or the financing,
>are FINAL.”
>
>“The Bank will remain alert to changes in international procurement
>practices and adopt its own rules accordingly.  It will maintain permanent
>dialogue with other international financial institutions and all
>governmental and non-governmental organizations working towards greater
>transparency in procurement.  It will also strengthen its role in
>monitoring and ensuring effective use of the resources provided to member
>countries, while remaining open to complaints from bidders, and organizing
>reviews of current contract award procedures.”
>
>The AfDB has cancelled several loan proceeds since the first review of the
>policy in 1996 and several more after the second review in 1999 in member
>countries due to corrupt practices and/or mis-procurement.  In the case of
>the Gambia, the AfDB has never had the cause to revert to loan cancellation
>due to either corruption and/or mis-procurement.  However, the AfDB has had
>to, on at least one occasion that I am aware of, cancel the PROCUREMENT
>PROCESS and ordered the executing agency to re-start the entire procurement
>process to the satisfaction of the Bank.  The AfDB’s policy recognises that
>the elements of good governance (creation of an enabling regulatory
>framework and economic environment for genuine participation by members of
>society, generation of legitimate demands and monitor government policies
>and actions, framing of unambiguous laws that are uniformly applied through
>an objective and independent judiciary etc., etc.) are complex concepts.
>It recognises also that there are two distinct but closely related
>dimensions: one is political and relates to genuine commitment to achieving
>good governance; and the other technical, and relates to issues of
>efficiency and public management.  Both of these must be addressed
>sincerely to create a truly enabling environment where both public- and
>private- sector operations can flourish and poverty reduced. (The language
>employed in the final paragraph is a paraphrase of the AfDB Policy on Good
>Governance, which I do not claim to be my own.)
>
>NOTE: The Information Disclosure Policy of the AfDB empowers the Public
>Information Centre of the Bank to serve the public of Member States through
>the Communications Unit (COMU) of the Bank Group.  Information not for
>restricted circulation can be obtained through COMU.
>
>Sidi Sanneh
>
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