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Momodou
Denmark
11525 Posts |
 Posted - 12 Nov 2017 : 12:49:23
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STOP PRESS - Mai Fatty fired and redeploy to the diplomatic service
PR/C/6/Vol. 21(84)
Media Advisory
Fajara, 10th November 2017 - The General Public is here by informed that His Excellency, Mr. Adama Barrow, President of the Republic of The Gambia, acting under the provision of Section71 (4) (b) of the Constitution of The Republic of the Gambia, has decided to relieve
Mr. Mai Ahmad Fatty of his appointment as Minister of The Interior with effect from today, Friday, 10 November 2017. Mr Fatty has been re-deployed to the diplomatic service.
In the same vein, His Excellency, the President has assigned the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Honourable Abubacarr M. Tambadou to oversee the Ministry of The Interior until further notice.
Issued, Friday November 10th 2017
Amie Bojang-Sissoho
Director of Press and Public Relations
Office of The President
FAJARA
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11525 Posts |
Posted - 13 Nov 2017 : 13:00:47
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Mai Fatty relieved of Cabinet appointment
The Point: Monday, November 13, 2017
http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/mai-fatty-relieved-of-cabinet-appointment
 The Gambian leader, His Excellency Adama Barrow has relieved Mai Ahmad Fatty, the minister of the Interior of his Cabinet appointment effected Friday, 10 November 2017, the press release from the presidency stated.
Mr. Fatty formed the first batch of President Barrow’s Cabinet that was sworn-in in February 2017 after a hard-earned and rough transition from dictatorship to an anticipating democracy.
However, he became the first minister to be relieved of his Cabinet duties. Political analysts believed that his removal could be among his ministry’s failure to provide biometric ID cards and ordinary passports.
Below is the full text of the release from the presidency:
“The General Public is here by informed that His Excellency, Mr. Adama Barrow, President of the Republic of The Gambia, acting under the provision of Section 71 (4) (b) of the Constitution of The Republic of the Gambia, has decided to relieve Mr. Mai Ahmad Fatty of his appointment as Minister of The Interior with effect from today, Friday, 10 November 2017. Mr Fatty has been re-deployed to the diplomatic service.
In the same vein, His Excellency, the President has assigned the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Honourable Abubacarr M. Tambedou to oversee the Ministry of The Interior until further notice.”
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11525 Posts |
Posted - 13 Nov 2017 : 14:52:58
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Curroption is defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain and benefits granted directly or through an intermediary - are both corruption. Corruption is a criminal offence - worldwide.
If indeed this story is true, then this company Simlex should not have anything to do with Gambian Identity documents.
Why President Barrow Removes Mai!
By a government insider
Kairo News: November 12, 2017
Source: http://www.kaironews.com/why-president-barrow-removes-mai/
It has been two days since the Gambia’s Interior Minister was removed from office, and the government, understandably, has difficulty telling the people why Mai Fatty had to be shown the exit door. “Understandably” because of the extremely embarrassing episode behind the story. But the true narrative has already been making the rounds between and among the Barrow inner circle and government insiders. So it makes sense that the public is given what would be an unofficial but impeccable account of the facts. The story goes as follows:
In the ongoing Simlex-Pristine matter, a decision was made to award both companies the contract to do the biometric national documents on a shared percentage basis. Simlex wanted as much as 75% of the shares which Barrow did not want to endorse at the expense of Pristine, which is a Gambian company.
In the efforts by Simlex to push for the 75% shares, Mai convinced the Belgian company to give him 15 million Dalasis on the pretext of using the money to convince Barrow to accept the Simlex request. In the meantime, Barrow continued his resistance to the Simlex request, without a clue about the back deal between Mai and the company.
After the issue of the contract came up in cabinet last week, Barrow invited Simlex to his office to make government’s position clear to them and insist on a way forward. Apparently, Mai had given Simlex management the impression that he had given the 15 million Dalasi to Barrow, that the President was very appreciative of the offer and was willing to allow them have 75% shares of the contract. When the Simlex management turned up at the President’s Office on Thursday in response to Barrow’s invitation, some cabinet ministers were also around and Barrow had no problem in their being part of the meeting between him and Simlex since the agenda was about an important government matter. During the meeting, the Simlex management was dumbfounded after the President made it clear that government will not give the company 75% of contract shares. With surprise and consternation, the Simlex manager started recalling the feedback Mai had been giving them about the President’s agreement to their request. He went further to disclose the amount Mai collected from them in the name of the President.
According to eye witnesses, Barrow was visibly shocked and speechless when the Simlex manager came up with such claims in the presence of other ministers. Ultimately, the President decided the first step of damage control was to relieve Mai of his cabinet responsibility before deciding on the next move.
Ends
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11525 Posts |
Posted - 14 Nov 2017 : 14:41:04
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The following is culled from Mai Ahmad Fatty's Facebook page this morning
"All Thanks and Praises due to Allah, the Master of the Truth and Destiny. Gratitude to Allah for the opportunity to witness the New Gambia. I will remain loyal to The Gambia with pride, confident in the knowledge that I did nothing to betray my Oath of Office such as personal involvement in corruption, or bribery. It is no secret that The law grants President Barrow the authority to hire and fire a Minister. A Cabinet Minister serves at the President's pleasure. You may or may not agree with the exercise of that authority, but all Gambians should respect that right of his. I do, and without an iota of bitterness. The call to serve is an honour and I am thankful for the opportunity given me. I will never stop serving The Gambia and her citizens. The Gambia is bigger than one individual, and I want you all to support the on-going development efforts. Let us stay focused, stand together as one people, shun divisive propensity and remain true to our allegiance to our Republic. I wish our Coalition Government success. At this sensitive period, confrontation among the coalition leaders will not help our national cause. I resist the invitation to the contrary for the good of Mother Gambia. We cannot fail and we will never fail. The Gambia shall be a beacon of hope and prosperity in Africa. There is no other choice. Together we shall build a strong Nation. God Bless you all."
Mai Ahmad Fatty |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11525 Posts |
Posted - 14 Nov 2017 : 15:09:13
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Government Tight-Lipped Over Minister’s Sacking
Foroyaa: November 13, 2017
By Kebba Jeffang
http://www.foroyaa.gm/archives/19062
Mai Ahmad Fatty, former Interior Minister of Barrow’s administration
The Director of Press and Public Relations at the presidency, Amie Bojang-Sissoho could not provide details when contacted to give account on what led to the removal of Interior Minister Mai Ahmad Fatty, on Friday 10th November 2017.
As the sender of the press release, she said “That is all the information I have been given,” when questioned about details of the scanty release.
This has created a lot of speculation on social media over the weekend as many see it as a ‘coincidence’ following the issuance of permit by the police to allow young people to protest on Sunday amid poor electricity service in the country, which was initially denied. The Minister openly defended the police on Facebook for denying the youths the permit saying ‘times are still uncertain when it comes to the security of the homeland.’ The permit was later issued on Friday and the Minister was dismissed on the same day.
The press release stated that: “The General Public is hereby informed that His Excellency, Mr. Adama Barrow, President of the Republic of The Gambia, acting under the provision of Section71 (4) (b) of the Constitution of The Republic of the Gambia, has decided to relieve Mr. Mai Ahmad Fatty of his appointment as Minister of The Interior with effect from today, Friday, 10th November 2017. Mr Fatty has been re-deployed to the diplomatic service”.
The Ministry according to the statement will be under the purview of the Minister of Justice Aboubacarr Tambadou, until further notice.
This is the first cabinet reshuffle of Barrow’s Government since he took over in January.
A credible source explained that Fatty was having a discussion with the organisers of #OccupyWestField protest at his office, when he received a telephone call from the Office of the President for him to go. This interrupted the meeting as it was called off, the source said.
Within a short period, the permit was eventually issued as posted online by the organisers. This news accompanied the unexpected, which was to be the ‘redeployment’ of the Minister. This coincidence created speculations that the permit denial triggered his removal from office.
Meanwhile, few hours after his removal, he posted on Facebook: “Faith in the Almighty God is our strongest pillar of hope and strength. Service to humanity is service to God. The rare opportunity to serve one’s country faithfully, is a rare honour and privilege. May God bless The Gambia.”
He continued: “It has been a privilege to have served as Minister of the Interior of our country The Gambia, for the last nine months. I have nothing but optimism about the future of our nation. A better Gambia will be engendered soon enough. Thank you for the support you all have given me during my time as Interior Minister”. Mr. Fatty could not be reached on his cell phone for further comments. However, his press secretary Lamin Njie, said they want to keep a low profile on the matter for now.
It could be recalled that Mai Ahmad Fatty is the leader of the Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) which is among the eight political establishments that formed ‘Coalition 2016 for Change’, to remove long term ruler Yahya Jammeh.
Several coalition supporters took to Facebook to criticize President Barrow’s decision with many describing it as ‘a betrayal.’
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12242 Posts |
Posted - 14 Nov 2017 : 16:45:59
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"However, his press secretary Lamin Njie, said they want to keep a low profile on the matter for now."
A truly correct political response under the circumstances.
Impressed with the speed that this information has come into the public domain .
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Momodou
Denmark
11525 Posts |
Posted - 15 Nov 2017 : 14:18:55
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Semlex denies $15M bribe to ex-minister, clarifies…
The point: Wednesday, November 15, 2017
http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/semlex-denies-15m-bribe-to-ex-minister-clarifies
 Sales Manager and Commercial Director of the Semlex Group Mr.Ralph Hajjar, has denied his company giving any bribe in order to retain contracts on national documents for The Gambia.
In an exclusive interview with this reporter, Mr. Hajjar said such information“is wrong, vicious and very unprofessional journalism. Why would we take 75% of the contract when we rightfully own 100%?” he asked.
In a trending letter from a “government insider”, it was alleged that the removed GMC party leader and Interior minister took bribes from Semlex officials on behalf of President Barrow which was later discovered by the president, causing Fatty’s removal.
Fatty on the other hand, said he “vehemently deny receiving any bribes from Semlex”.
“The allegations are concocted and [they] contain no fibre of truth. The alleged meeting and settings were all lies, with no foundation and I challenge them to prove me wrong,” he said in a message posted on his official Facebook page at 5.38 p.m. yesterday.
Fatty said this is an orchestrated smear campaign of calumny, designed to ruin his reputation. “I am ready and willing to subject myself to the most expansive thorough independent investigation on this matter. I am confident that I am innocent,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Semlex official said he had the opportunity to meet the minster of Justice and the Interior just once. “Since then, I only had communications with the ministry through the permanent secretary,” Hajjar said.
Political in-fights
On reports that Semlex has been allegedly engaged in bribery of government officials to win contracts in DR Congo and investigations in another African country (Botswana?), he said they did not even work in Botswana.
“In DR Congo, we had delivered one of the most secure passports in the world. There were some internal political fights as elections were coming. People began using media to attack each other. We have already put a claim in Belgium against those allegations, and we are confident in the result,” he clarified.
On why they wanted to reconnect with Gambia’s new government after their contract was “illegally terminated” by Jammeh in 2016, he said they are partners with main international agencies such as International Civil Aviation Organisation, UNDP and Interpol.
“We are reputable and we operate in more than 20 countries around the world. Our activity is to secure identities and produce added value documents based on the most advanced technology,” the Semlex official said.
He also said that if they can “find a positive solution” and get the chance to work, they would take that rather than going to court. That would be last action, he added.
Strongly-worded letter
The Semlex Group CEO Albert Karaziwan, also said since a new government has been set, they “have patiently waited” for everything to get stabilised at a national level (6th of April 2017), before re-initiating this contract and launch one of the first ECOWAS 100%-compliant ID cards in The Gambia.
In a strongly worded letter signed on the 17th October 2017 and delivered to the Cabinet, ministries of the Interior, Justice and the President’s office, Semlex maintained they have “a signed contract between the government and Semlex Group secured since the 16th of June 2016.”
This contract was for the creation and maintenance of the national database to produce secure documents. Since then, Semlex has begun to put in a lot of resources and time in the project to execute it on time, their CEO wrote, arguing they have invested a lot of resources including both financial and labour to make this project a success.
“We have already bought the electronic devices dedicated for Gambia. All holograms are already designed and created for The Gambia. All the various components for the ECOWAS ID card and visa stickers have already been purchased and currently in our factory for assembly,” said CEO Albert Karaziwan.
Build, operate and transfer
Ted McEwan, Semlex local Rep. in Banjul said they have already secured contract for the ECOWAS ID card that “The Gambia will proudly be issuing”.
“There is a build-operate-transfer agreement with Semlex. Meaning that Semlex will fund the project in full for five years and then train staff at the Police and Immigration to take over and continue. All the other documents such as permits, driving licenses, to name a few, will be of the same high standard,” Mr.NcEwan said.
He also described as ridiculous; the concept of business being given to foreigners especially considering that there was no capacity to enroll such a project at a high level.
“Hence Gambians partnered with Semlex to ensure that the needs of the country were met at the desired and well deserved standard,” he added, arguing that they will not share the project with any other companies due to the fact that they design and manufacture in-house.
“The announcements made about sharing are new to us and this will not be considered,” he said. “We will also not accept a tender process as we already hold a valid and legally binding contract. It is now left to the relevant stakeholders to do what is best for the country and let us at Semlex do what we do best and finance and deliver the best bio-metric solution possible to the Gambia,”
You can read the full interview with Semlex Director in our Friday edition.
Author: Sanna Camara |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12242 Posts |
Posted - 17 Nov 2017 : 13:22:22
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"Semlex Group sales manager said they are pretty sure that the honorable former minister of the Interior and His Excellency President Adama Barrow will soon clear the air on the allegations of bribery."
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Friday, November 17, 2017
The European biometric and border management systems dubbed (Semlex) company has tasked President Adama Barrow and ex-Interior minister to speak up on allegations of attempted bribery over contract in The Gambia.
In an exclusive with this reporter, Semlex Group sales manager said they are pretty sure that the honorable former minister of the Interior and His Excellency President Adama Barrow will soon clear the air on the allegations of bribery.
Ralph Hajjar, who travelled to Banjul from Brussels about a month ago to deliver what their company said was a last chance at communication efforts with Gambia over the ID cards contract, said damages are very high in such a case.
“... not even taking into account the financial damage, but our integrity has been severely attacked based on no facts [but] irresponsible journalism as well as reports and allegations with no grounds,” he said.
“I want to say that I was quite shocked and disappointed to see the media spreading false information without any investigation on the validity of the fact,” he added.
Read the full interview
Ralph Hajjar, Sales/Commercial Director, Semlex Group (Europe)
In June 2016, Gambia government and Semlex Group signed a contract to for the production of biometric national identification documents. Within three months afterwards, Ministry of Interior, acting under directives from Office of The President, wrote a letter to Semlex terminating the contract. The same ministry gave instructions for the contract to be given to another group without any tender for bidding process.
Rewind back to over 5 years ago, the same Jammeh government gave contract to a Gambian consultancy firm, Pristine Consulting, to produce the same ID cards. That company’s CEO was arrested and remanded, tried for economic crimes and later released by the courts. Now with new government in office, both Semlex and Pristine are laying claims to the same contract.
In this interview with journalist Sanna Camara, a top official of Semlex, Ralph Hajjar spoke on issues surrounding their Gambia project. Camara started by asking Mr. Hajjar what was the state of the ID contract with government.
Mr. Hajjar: I would like to thanks you again for giving us the opportunity to explain the situation from our point of view. Up to now, we had no official feedback from the government or the Ministry of interior. This is the reason why we made attempts to contact the ministry.
Q: Is it true that you gave $15 million so you can have 75 per cent of the said contract?
A: This information is wrong, vicious and very unprofessional journalism. Why would we take 75% of the contract when rightfully own 100%?
Q: Can you explain your level of cooperation with the ex-minister of Interior, Mai Fatty?
A: I had the opportunity to meet the delegation of the Gambia in February 2017 where I was shortly introduced to Hon. Ministers of Justice and Interior. Since then, I only had communications with the ministry through the permanent secretary.
Q: There have been reports that your company has been allegedly engaged in bribing government officials to win contracts in DRC, and that you were under investigations in another African country (Botswana?)?
A: We never worked in Botswana.
In DR Congo, we have delivered one of the most secured passports in the world. There were some internal political fights as elections were coming up. People used the media to attack others. We have already put a claim in Belgium against those allegations, and we are confident in the result.
Q: On what basis are your collaborations/arrangements with Pristine Consulting?
A: We never had any communications with Pristine and have no reason to communicate with Pristine. A collaboration would make no sense as they have no value to add to our business be it financial or technical.
Q: What is the capacity of your company to deliver quality and best standard ID documents for The Gambia?
A: Our company is running a BOT (build-operate-transfer) project in Africa and all around the world for more than 20 years. We are currently running six BOT programs. We are the first company to introduce BOT concept in Africa with 100% success. We financed 100% of all the projects we implement. I invite all Gambians to visit our webpage and watch the videos we have made to showcase our projects. There are numerous high level references for all to clearly see.
Q: So when is the Gambia project kicking off?
A: The project has been signed in June 2016. We were supposed to start the project before the end of the year. All materials were already purchased and a huge portion was already purchased and a huge portion was already sent to Banjul for implementation. The political events and the change have frozen our project for sometimes. We had the opportunity to exchange with the Ministry of Interior who kindly asked us to hold until the 6th of April after the local government elections. That was what we did.
Q: Under your contract, you were supposed to ship in equipment into the country (Interior minister said it’s worth D10 million). Is this true?
A: Yes, I confirm a value of US$10million invested by our company. The shipment arrived in good shape in Banjul but unfortunately we didn’t get the opportunity to install them. This shipment was only a part of the overall investment program defined by the contract. We have already produced more than 200, 000 ECOWAS ID cards and bought all the machinery (laser engraving systems) for personalization.
Q: How much is the project’s infrastructure costing your firm?
A: Such projects are very costly especially at the start of the project where we have all structural and material investment to make.
Q: Permanent secretary under Jammhe, Nai Ceesay, wrote to you on the 29th August 2016, notifying you of termination of the contract. Were you told why?
A: No.
Q: When did you receive this communication?
A: Actually, we never received it officially. But we were notified on the 27th of September 2016.
Q: What was your reaction to this?
A: We wrote a letter calling for a meeting to understand what was happening and why, as it was an illegal termination with no legal grounds.
Q: In February 2017, you wrote to the new Minister Fatty, to follow up on your earlier letter of the 18th of November 2016, regarding “agreement for implementation of biometric solutions and border management systems”. You wanted “to reconnect the link.”
Tell me why you wanted to reconnect after your contract got “illegally” terminated instead of going to court?
A: We are a reputable company operating in more than 20 countries around the world. We are partners with main international agencies as International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), UNDP and Interpol. Our activity is to secure identities and produce added-value documents based on the most advanced technology. If we can find a solution and get the chance to work, we would take it. Going to court would be our last resort and would not be good for The Gambia. This is why we hope that the relevant stakeholders will make the right decision.
Q: Under Article 14.1 of the contract, you were to take action to recoup investment and damages should the contract be unlawfully terminated. Would you have sued the government for $100 million? What would such figures represent under your contract?
A: The amount is not an important factor. It is a high value.
However, it is there to avoid such situations. Damages are very high in this case, not even taking into account the financial damages. But our integrity has been severely attacked based on no facts and irresponsible journalism as well as reports and allegations with no grounds.
Q: What would be your last words?
A: I came as a last chance in The Gambia almost one month ago to personally deliver a final letter of communication hoping to clear the air on matters and get a better understanding.
I really believe that this project we have designed in accordance with The Gambian government is beneficial for the country in terms of security, quality and cost. I want to say that I was quite shocked and disappointed to see the media spreading false information without any investigation on the validity of the fact. I am pretty sure that honourable former minister of Interior and the honourable president will soon clear the air on the allegations of bribing attempts.
Author: Sanna Camara
http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/semlex-tasks-barrow-fatty-to-clear-the-air-on-bribery |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 17 Nov 2017 13:23:52 |
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Momodou
Denmark
11525 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2017 : 15:14:26
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quote:
Originally posted by Momodou
Curroption is defined as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain and benefits granted directly or through an intermediary - are both corruption. Corruption is a criminal offence - worldwide.
If indeed this story is true, then this company Simlex should not have anything to do with Gambian Identity documents.
Why President Barrow Removes Mai!
By a government insider
Kairo News: November 12, 2017
Source: http://www.kaironews.com/why-president-barrow-removes-mai/
.....
Kairo News Apologises To Mai
in News — by Kairo News — November 16, 2017
http://www.kaironews.com/kairo-news-apologises-to-mai/
For the first time in its close to four years of existence [inaugurated on February 18th 2014], Kairo News has become a punching bag left and right for publishing a story whose authenticity has been questioned. For the purpose of setting the records straight, the government insider’s article had already circulated on social media before Kairo News laid hands on it. In line with Kairo News editorial policy, stories have to be corroborated or verified before they go to bed. There were times when it took us days and weeks trying to get to the bottom of a human interest story. Most of them got trashed for failing editorial test.
Like any media outlet, Kairo News too depends on sources whose scoops have proven to be right. These sources of information have become reliable and dependable. They have in the past provided us with unquestionable stories and articles of evidence that have added value and meaning to our work. This doesn’t mean these sources are infallible. Like any human, they too err. That’s why we try to corroborate their scoops, the ultimate goal being to publish factual news items to our deserving readership. Thanks to their genuine efforts, we cannot remember running a rejoinder. We still debated and questioned the insider’s article even though two of our sources have confirmed its veracity. Since the government was economical with reasons for relieving Interior Minister Mai Ahmad Fatty, Kairo News contacted Mr. Fatty to no avail. The story was then published with the expectation that Mr. Fatty would provide his side of the story.
Now that both Mai and Semlex have denied the insider’s allegations, Kairo News will not shy away from writing its first ever rejoinder. And in line with journalistic tradition, editors and publishers swallow their pride and correct a story and where necessary, say sorry. In that regard, Kairo News apologises to Hon. Mai Ahmad Fatty for any inconveniences the article might have caused to him, friends and family members. If Minister Mai Fatty was brave enough to apologise to a young reporter, who are not to do the same?
We wish to assure all Gambians that Kairo News team will, at all times, strive for excellence. Those who have been following us know that our style of journalism, which may not be perfect, is devoid of sensationalism or mudslinging. Together we can build a vibrant democracy, human rights and the rule of law. No democracy is complete without a vibrant press.
Issued by Kairo News Editorial Board
November 15th 2017
Ends
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11525 Posts |
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Mai Fatty fired and redeployed
