EDITORIAL
REVISITING TAIWAN'S "CHEQUE BOOK DIPLOMACY" -JAMMEH AND HIS RECENT
TAIWANESE GIFTS
Octoger 13, 2005
It is time for Taiwan to tell Gambians and the world at large what they
are up to. We are concerned about the huge amount of money given to
President Jammeh without any formal monitoring system. These funds said to
be coming from your "cheque book diplomacy fund" should be channelled
through the National Assembly and not to be handed to Jammeh or any of his
errand boys. Taiwan needs to be transparent and civilised in the way it
deals with sovereign Nation like The Gambia.

It is our firm believe that such funds passing through the hands of the
President cannot be easily accountable. From 1994 to date there is no
single Taiwanese developmental fund channelled through the National
Assembly. If there is any, we would be more than happy to see such
records. We challenge Taiwan to provide us with such records. We are aware
of millions of dollars that were disbursed to this administration without
passing through the National Assembly for vetting.

Taiwan should remember that governments come and go. And as such, it
should ensure that funds given to this administration should be
accountable. We have been reliably informed by Jammeh's inner circles that
he came with "two things from his recent Taiwan visit." Our informants
said the President was handed with huge sum of money, while others said
Taiwan also promised to sponsor his party's 2006 Presidential campaigns.

We have also gathered that Taiwan has pledged to provide campaign vehicles
and money to the APRC to criss cross the country come the 2006 polls. We
have no problem with Taiwan extending helping hands to Gambians. What we
are saying here is that such assistance should be done in good faith and
must pass through the right channels.

Providing campaign vehicles to the APRC, sidelining the opposition is a
diplomatic hypocrisy and totally unacceptable. After all such gestures
were presented in The name of The Gambia Government and not the APRC as a
Party. Without the Gambian voters, there will be no Yahya Jammeh.
Therefore, Taiwan should revisit the way and manner it deals with Yahya
Jammeh as a person. Without our voters, you will not have the chance to
talk to Yahya Jammeh. You should channel your so called development funds
through our National Assembly and not Yahya Jammeh as a person.

We have no cause to dispute our sources. They are reliable. They are privy
of Yahya's dubious deals with Taiwan. We must acknowledge that without
Taiwan, Jammeh's government would be a thing of the past. The regime don't
have the money to run the country. It is Taiwan who is sub-venting them. A
greater part of the Taiwanese's funds goes to Jammeh's pockets.

Here is a President who will openly tell his citizens that each time he
travelled outside the country, when given a gift, the donors also usually
gave him his own share. In a simple and plain language Jammeh is saying
that there are two gifts given to him-one for Yahya and one for The
Gambian government. Jammeh's utterances are well documented at the
archives of the GRTS. We challenge him to dispute our editorial. We will
provide such tapes to our readers. No jokes. We have such tapes for public
consumption.

The Gambia cannot develop under such corrupt environment. Jammeh should
realise that he is at state house because of Gambian voters and should not
attempt to abuse the rights and privileges accorded to him as a President.
Jammeh you should not jump your limits.

Why is Taiwan not following the foot steeps of Western countries? These
countries will never hand money directly to Jammeh. They deal with our
representatives at the National Assembly and not Jammeh as a person. We
even doubted if Jammeh is receiving much help from the West these days.
The West will not support any undemocratic country. Their funds are
channelled through democratic Nations and not countries such as Zimbabwe
and The Gambia. I have no intention to displease one of my readers, who
claimed to be Mugabe's strong supporter. I'm just being frank with issues.
We need a more transparent Taiwan and not the back door diplomatic policy
you are engaged in.

Be informed that, unless you change your back door diplomatic policy,
civilised countries will not take you seriously. Yes, you can buy people
like Yahya Jammeh and not other democratic African leaders. You need to
adjust your style of diplomacy to fit in the civilised world. The choice
is yours. You either play by the basic standards and acceptable diplomatic
codes or you will continue to be isolated. Just a thought. We rest our
case.



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