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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Momodou |
Posted - 07 Oct 2025 : 05:54:33
Gambia’s Lost Factories and the Betrayal of a Nation
By Madi Jobarteh
Once upon a time, The Gambia dreamt of self-reliance and prosperity. The Kuntaur Rice Mill was meant to feed the nation and make it a rice exporter. The Basse Cotton Mill promised to anchor textile manufacturing. The Gambia Produce Marketing Board (GPMB) was designed to empower farmers and stabilize prices. The National Trading Corporation (NTC) was to secure essential commodities and strengthen local enterprise. Together, these initiatives were the seeds of an industrial future. A future where the country could feed itself, create jobs, and climb confidently into the ranks of prosperous nations.
Yet, today, those dreams lie in ruins. The rice mill is silent. The cotton mill is a memory. GPMB and NTC have long collapsed. The Gambia is now highly indebted, chronically import-dependent, and mired in poverty. Instead of building on the foundations of development, successive governments have allowed these institutions to decay, not out of ignorance, but because corruption has devoured our vision.
The evidence is everywhere. Audit reports, year after year, show that public funds are treated as spoils for the politically connected as they are shared among family, friends, and cronies. Dubious contracts, unfair financial facilities, and outright bribery turn individuals into overnight millionaires while the nation starves. Otherwise, how does a government justify handing hundreds of millions of dalasis to the President’s nephew to import rice, when fertile land, water, labor, and the historic Kuntaur Rice Mill remain neglected? Why do we import what we can grow, if not because public office has been reduced to a marketplace for self-enrichment?
The tragedy is not that The Gambia is small or poor. Our land is flat and fertile; our rivers flow; our sun shines abundantly; our people are resilient and industrious. The tragedy is leadership failure; the betrayal of duty by public officials who choose wealth and patronage over service and integrity. This is why, despite decades of independence and billions in aid and public revenue, hunger, unemployment, and hopelessness persist.
It is time to break this cycle. Reviving productive institutions like Kuntaur Rice Mill and Basse Cotton Mill is not nostalgia, it is survival. A nation that cannot feed itself or build industries cannot escape poverty or protect its dignity. Citizens must demand accountability. Ministries must stop functioning as personal treasuries. The National Assembly must act, and stop addressing corruption with kids glove. And the Presidency must lead not in enriching families and allies, but in building the systems that secure prosperity for all.
Gambians deserve more than handouts and promises. We deserve a country that invests in itself, harnesses its natural wealth, and uses public funds for the public good. Until we demand this loudly and persistently the dream of an industrial, food-secure, and prosperous Gambia will remain a broken promise.
For the Gambia Our Homeland
VC: Inside Gambia https://www.facebook.com/100001807115790/posts/31652973371012822/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v |
| 1 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Momodou |
Posted - 07 Oct 2025 : 11:09:00
AUDIT REPORT AND UNSERIOUS LEADERS: EBRIMA SILLAH EDITION
By Ousman Gajigo
I mentioned Ebrima Sillah by name because he is the current Minister of the Ministry of Transport, Works & Infrastructure (MOTWI). This ministry just released a statement attempting to rebut the damning findings from recently released audit reports. This ministry and its head must think very low of the collective intelligence of the Gambian people if they expect anyone to find credibility in their press release.
The press release from Minister Sillah is predicated on the belief that the general public is ignorant about the process the National Audit Office (NAO) goes through when scrutinizing government institutions.
Audit reports released by the NAO (and similar institutions around the world, for that matter) follow a standard process. Specifically, the auditing of government institutions follows a deliberate process - it is certainly not perfect, but it is generally thorough. I will summarize key aspects of this process:
Each of the institutions and ministries adversely mentioned would have had ample opportunities to review, clarify and provide further information while the auditors were reviewing the relevant records. This would not be just a single opportunity but multiple ones. If there is missing information or a misunderstanding, there would have been numerous opportunities for these institutions to clarify matters.
There is also a period when auditors hold "exit meetings" with officials of the institutions under scrutiny. This is another opportunity for leadership of the relevant institution to provide clarifications, submit missing documents, or clear up any possible misunderstandings.
Finally, the leadership of any institution under scrutiny has the opportunity to provide a formal written response through what is called a "management response" after a draft of the audit report is shared. This is yet another opportunity for the officials of the relevant institutions to clarify where they disagree with the auditors' findings.
All these opportunities are available to the relevant institutions before the audit reports become public - including MOTWI. With all these opportunities for clarifications and corrections, how do MOTWI officials have the audacity to release such a document now?
This self-serving press release is not a sign of transparency. It is an attempt to pull a full cloth over people's eyes. It assumes lack of familiarity with the audit process. The document is nothing but a ploy for misdirection. No one should fall for it. |
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