Written by: Seringe S.T. Touray

The National Assembly has moved decisively against alleged obstruction of the $30 million Russian oil scandal investigation, with lawmakers Thursday authorizing censure proceedings targeting two cabinet ministers.

The scandal involves allegations of irregular petroleum transactions worth US $30 million, initially flagged by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for suspicious activity. The investigation began last July when Lower Saloum National Assembly Member (NAM) Sainey Jawara tabled a motion to establish a commission to probe the alleged illegal importation of approximately 36,935.614 tonnes of petroleum—valued at US $30 million—into The Gambia by three companies: Apogee FZC, a Dubai-based company later registered locally as Apogee Company Limited; Creed Energy Limited, a company registered in The Gambia; and Ultimate Beige Logistics, also registered in The Gambia under the name Ultimate Beige Logistic (Gambia) Company Limited.

National Assembly investigators have assembled evidence suggesting systematic attempts to derail criminal investigations into suspicious petroleum transactions. The committees documented what they described as “serious procedural violations, inconsistencies, and evidence of interference during the investigation, which in turn revealed weaknesses in criminal investigations, institutional accountability, and oversight within the police force.”

Interior Minister Abdoulie Sanyang, who transitioned from his previous role as Inspector General of Police (IGP), now faces allegations from National Assembly committees regarding a potential conflict of interest.

The committee noted that Minister Sanyang “failed to give a full disclosure of his involvement in the matter and gave a ‘contradictory statement'” when he claimed that he was not formally informed of the FIU report’s investigation and only became aware of the report during an informal conversation with Pa Alieu Jawara, the Commissioner of Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the police. However, evidence showed he minuted the said FIU report to the SIU and also received a call from Minister Abdoulie Jobe informing him that one of their international traders [Aurimas Steiblys] was in police custody.

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Abdoulie Jobe—previously responsible for petroleum policy—faces allegations from the committee. The committee said Minister Jobe “may have committed misconduct in office” in his role in the purported government policy that allowed owners of the Russian oil Apogee FZC to deposit their product at the Gam Petroleum depot, giving them a monopoly over local oil marketing companies who were forced to switch at a high financial cost from buying directly from their traditional international traders to Apogee.

The committee revealed that this purported government policy did not go through the due consultative process required and there was no evidence of its approval by cabinet, even though Minister Jobe claimed that it was discussed there. Lawmakers also reported that the minister allegedly interfered in the police investigations following the arrest of the principal suspect in the case, Mr Aurimas Steiblys, who was arrested, detained briefly and released without charges before he reportedly absconded.

Beyond the ministerial censures, the committee made sweeping recommendations for sanctions against multiple institutions and individuals. The committee recommended for the immediate suspension of the General manager of Gam Petroleum, Yoro Jallow, and initiation of criminal perjury proceedings against him for “deliberately misleading” the National Assembly. The committee found that Jallow allegedly acted as an agent for Apogee FZC in the sale of the oil, was allegedly not truthful in his testimony, and was allegedly complicit in “institutional failures” and “conflicts of interest” that facilitated “preferential treatment, regulatory evasion, and monopolistic practices” in favour of Apogee FZC.

Rather than pursuing informal disciplinary measures, the National Assembly has opted for the more serious step of formal censure proceedings—a mechanism that carries significant political and potential legal ramifications. Regarding the Interior Minister, the report states: “The National Assembly should initiate proceedings to censure the Minister for Interior, Hon. Abdoulie Sanyang (former Inspector General of the Police), for his alleged role in prematurely halting the police investigation in the report of the Financial Intelligence Unit, and for failing to keep proper command authority in the handling of the investigation.”

For the Tourism Minister, the National Assembly declared: “The National Assembly initiates censure proceedings against the Former Minister of Petroleum, Abdoulie Jobe, who may have committed misconduct in office in his role in the purported policy (MOPE/GOGP/PP/002) as referenced in the letter dated 30th October 2023 and interference into the police investigations.”

National Assembly committees have outlined sweeping changes to petroleum sector oversight, with the report stating: “All purported petroleum policies be reviewed by Cabinet, formalized, and gazetted henceforth before implementation.” The reforms include mandatory competitive processes for import applications, with the report specifying: “That all ullage applications should be subject to competitive review. Any Ministry official found complicit in supporting exclusivity deals must be subjected to administrative disciplinary measures.”

The committee also found that a number of public and private institutions allegedly failed in carrying out their duties and due diligence in the oil saga, including the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, Central Bank of The Gambia, Gambia Revenue Authority, Gambia Ports Authority, Ecobank and Access Bank Gambia. Consequently, the committee recommended for the executive to administratively hold the heads of the police, Gambia Ports Authority (GPA) and the Central Bank to account for their inaction following receipt of intelligence report from the FIU.

The Attorney General has received a 90-day mandate to establish an independent investigation panel focusing on police conduct during the original probe. The report directs: “The Attorney General and Minister for Justice constitute a special panel to further investigate the conduct of Officer Commanding, Mr. Pa Alieu Jawara, in the investigation into the report of the Financial Intelligence Unit” and “The Attorney General and Minister for Justice constitute a special panel independent to investigate the procedure adopted by the police in the investigation of the STR report against Mr. Aurimas and report to the National Assembly within 90 days of the tabling of this report.”

The National Assembly has warned that non-compliance with its directives will trigger progressive sanctions. The report explicitly states: “Failure to comply with these resolutions shall attract consequences, including administrative sanctions, suspension, dismissal, or criminal prosecution as applicable.”

Written by: Seringe S.T. Touray

In a testimony before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday, June 25th, Mayor Rohey Malick Lowe of Banjul City Council (BCC) described various aspects of local government operations in The Gambia, outlining structural issues that have affected governance at the municipal level. The session was led by Patrick Gomez, the commission’s lead counsel.

The testimony addressed gaps between legal frameworks and actual practice in local government administration, detailing how mayors have been operating within constraints despite holding positions of formal authority.

Mayor Lowe’s testimony centered on the practical limitations of mayoral power within local councils. Despite legal provisions establishing hierarchical structures, she testified that the actual operations of councils often differ from statutory requirements.

“The CEOs and the administration have people behind them. If I say I don’t have powers, please believe me,” Mayor Lowe explained, describing how Chief Executive Officers function in day-to-day operations. This power dynamic has created a system where mayors often assume ceremonial roles, while technical staff control critical decisions.

The mayor described her attempts to engage with the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development: “You write to the ministry complaining about something, and they will tell you directly, ‘Don’t ever write us. The CEO has the authority to write us.’ So there are a lot of frustrations in council.”

This statement indicates how the governance structure has been implemented, with mayors finding themselves excluded from communications with higher authorities. Mayor Lowe’s testimony detailed the impact of these limitations: “If you have a CEO who doesn’t have respect, he will relegate you, and this is the truth.”

A significant portion of the testimony focused on what appeared to be a procedural issue—the non-forwarding of Senior Management Team (SMT) meeting minutes to the mayor. This issue revealed aspects of information flow and accountability within the council.

“Most of my communications with the ministry, I just go talk to them, the permanent secretary, and I come back and sit down. But from this commission I learned that writing is very good,” Mayor Lowe testified, acknowledging her previous reliance on informal communication channels.

She further explained the nature of verbal briefings: “What I would like to establish here is that he will not give us the minutes, but he will explain to us directly what has happened. That is the gap—we don’t have something in writing. What happens is that one person says this and the other one says that.”

This practice of relying on undocumented agreements created situations where accountability became difficult to establish, as Mayor Lowe acknowledged: “There are gentleman agreements, which I’m not trying to say should happen.”

The testimony also addressed financial management and expenditure authority. It detailed a disconnect between legal provisions and practical implementation regarding spending limits and approval processes. Additional testimony revealed further complications in financial procedures, including misunderstandings about basic financial concepts and authorization processes.

Despite legal requirements for councils to establish monetary spending limits that determine what level of authority is required for different expenditure amounts, Mayor Lowe stated that Banjul City Council had not effectively implemented such measures. When questioned about her efforts to establish these financial controls, she testified:

“I have written to say that if their spending amounts to something, let them inform me. I wrote a memo to the CEO. I cannot remember exactly, but it’s more than three times. I cannot remember exactly how much I wrote, but I know that it doesn’t work.”

When asked about appropriate monetary limits above which she should be consulted, the mayor suggested amounts between D200,000 and D300,000: “It might be D200,000 or D300,000. I can’t answer why that is. What I did was make an effort to know what is going on, but it’s supposed to be a mandatory directive. It’s supposed to be a practice that must happen. In the language of the law, it must happen.”

Her testimony regarding the failure to implement financial controls included: “Now you have written several times, the CEO must follow, and it was never followed. Who is at fault? I can’t tell exactly.”

The testimony also revealed issues with delegation and payment authorization. Mayor Lowe acknowledged situations where staff members initiated financial requests using her authority without her direct involvement.

Additionally, the testimony addressed confusion about financial classifications. “We thought that it was an imprest,” she stated, referring to how certain payments were categorized by her team. An imprest system is typically used for small, urgent expenses that cannot wait for normal procurement procedures. However, Mayor Lowe later acknowledged that the issue stemmed from the choice of words, explaining that all payments were generally categorized as imprest, regardless of whether they met the criteria for urgent or emergency expenses. She added that this practice is still ongoing.

The testimony further addressed confusion about advisory roles versus decision-making authority. Mayor Lowe described consulting with the Chief Executive Officer on payment decisions, referring to “advisory input.” However, testimony revealed that “advice from the CEO is not binding.” When asked about rejections of her requests, Mayor Lowe stated that “more of her vouchers were rejected than approved,” although she acknowledged that she did not document these interactions.

Mayor Lowe’s testimony indicated that the problems at Banjul City Council were part of broader operational patterns. In one of her statements, she declared: “What I want to tell you is that the system is polluted. I’m not talking about others—I am specifically talking about my own council. You will not know some of the things that happened, but later I think all those things will be revealed.”

The mayor’s description of the council’s operational challenges included: “When we came into office, we didn’t even have a single page of handover notes, and most of us were new. If you check, probably 90% of what we have done was wrong. We were moving and doing things thinking, ‘Okay, these people were doing it like this, so let us follow them.’ That is how they were doing it, and that is how we were doing it.”

This cycle of inherited practices has created what the mayor described as a gap between legal requirements and operational reality. She acknowledged the guidance that proper legal frameworks could provide: “The law will guide you if you follow it. It’s not perfect—it has so many areas that need to be reviewed to help you in administration on a daily basis—but it’s more perfect than not having or not following regulations.”

The testimony also addressed Mayor Lowe’s knowledge about EU-funded projects within her jurisdiction. Her statement indicated the extent to which mayors have been informed about such activities: “I saw people who passed here before me—witnesses, more than 20 of them—talking about the EU project. I am at the city council, but I don’t know them. I have never met them. I only saw them sitting here before the commission.” This situation represents a gap in local government information sharing, as elected officials remained uninformed about major activities in their jurisdictions.

Throughout her testimony, Mayor Lowe acknowledged shortcomings in her knowledge and expressed a willingness to learn. She stated that the commission had helped her understand the importance of proper documentation and formal procedures. “From this commission I learned a lot, and I realized that writing is very important,” she testified.

She also conveyed appreciation for the commission’s role in shedding light on administrative processes. “What I want to assure you is the respect that I have for this commission and the appreciation that I have for this commission. It seems the commission came specifically for me to learn. I will have nothing to hide, and however difficult it is, I will tell you this is how it happened because I learned a lot,” she said.

In response to questions about her leadership, Mayor Lowe emphasized her approach to responsibility and transparency. “As a leader, you take responsibility. I take the responsibility. I used to sit in my room listening to this commission, and normally I learn a lot. I used to hear things that my council was not doing,” she explained. Reflecting on her role, she added, “I am the one sitting in this position. I don’t want to sit here and be very shameful and later try to make excuses. I would be very ashamed to do that here. I learned a lot, and as I said, what you learn as a leader—when you agree to do something, you need to make it clear.”

Mayor Rohey Malick Lowe’s testimony before the Local Government Commission of Inquiry revealed challenges in legal framework implementation, mayoral authority, and financial controls within Gambian local government. Her statements suggested that governance improvements would require both structural reforms and cultural changes in operations. The commission’s findings may inform future decisions on strengthening local council administration.

Written by: The Fatu Network Newsroom

United Democratic Party (UDP) leader and Secretary-General Ousainou Darboe has dismissed President Adama Barrow’s 2025 State of the Nation Address as “certainly a checklist of a propaganda agenda,” suggesting the president has begun campaigning for the 2026 presidential elections.

Speaking on West Coast Radio’s Coffee Time with Peter Gomez following the June 19 address, Darboe expressed particular disappointment with what he characterized as vague promises and missed opportunities, especially in foreign policy leadership.

Critique of Foreign Policy Leadership

Darboe’s sharpest criticism centered on President Barrow’s role as Chairman of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), particularly regarding ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

“As chairman of the OIC, I would guide the African group, the AU, to really partner with me in seeking for solutions not only to the Iran-Israel thing,” Darboe said. “He should be approaching the issue not as president of The Gambia but as chairman of the OIC, because if he does approach it as president of The Gambia, people would like to say, ‘But what political weight does he have?’ But then, as chairman of the OIC, he has a lot of political weight—57 nations behind him.”

The UDP leader argued that simply calling for peace from the National Assembly was insufficient, stating: “As chairman, you ought to engage others like world leaders.”

OIC Summit: Success or Failure?

Addressing the 2024 OIC Summit hosted in Banjul, which President Barrow touted as successful, Darboe maintained it was a failure due to poor attendance.

“Certainly it was not successful. I think his emissaries should have done more to impress on member states that this is their conference,” he said. “My particular disappointment was that even in the sub-region there was a singular absence of the presidents.”

Darboe revealed ambitious plans from his time as Foreign Minister: “We had this grandiose, very big idea. We were even thinking that some of the Arab kings could come in their yachts and anchor at Banjul and then drive from Banjul to the conference center.”

Development Priorities: Roads vs. Agriculture

The opposition leader challenged the government’s infrastructure-heavy development approach, particularly the emphasis on road construction over agricultural investment.

“If you take three-quarters of that [road infrastructure spending] and inject it in agriculture, we would by now have been near food self-sufficiency,” Darboe argued. “This $75 million currency swap—I would have taken $50 million of that and injected it in agriculture.”

He emphasized the need to prioritize food security, referencing a Mandinka proverb: “You have to have enough food before you concentrate on roads. Feed the people first, because you have roads that cannot be used when people are hungry.”

Electricity Promises Under Scrutiny

Despite President Barrow’s claim of achieving 90% electricity coverage by the end of 2025, Darboe questioned the reality on the ground. “I have been experiencing power outages—everybody has. So what is all this pomp about electricity all over the country, 90% by the end of this year?” he said.

He dismissed the provision of free electricity meters as electoral incentives: “It’s an incentive, really, for the 2026 presidential elections. How can you give meters to people for free when NAWEC is in such a dire situation?”

UDP Internal Matters and Succession

Addressing ongoing speculation about internal UDP conflicts, Darboe characterized them as “domestic squabbles” while acknowledging public concern. “I am really happy that Gambian people are focusing on UDP. They’re showing their concerns about this domestic squabble because UDP is their hope, so they do not want to see their hope shattered,” he said.

On succession planning within the party, Darboe indicated he would provide adequate notice: “I will leave United Democratic Party with grace, and I wouldn’t give a six months’ notice. I should give at least two years’ notice so that those who really want to succeed me can do their thing.”

Defending Against Tribalism Accusations

The UDP leader strongly rejected suggestions of tribalism within his party or personal conduct, pointing to his family relationships across ethnic lines. “All those who have known me know that Darboe doesn’t think tribal—he has no tribalist inclination in him. His marital life exposes that. The uncles of all his children are people who do not belong to the Mandinka tribe,” he stated.

He attributed such accusations to political opponents using “a cheap propaganda tool” and suggested some apparent UDP supporters making inflammatory statements might be planted agents.

Call for Accountability

Darboe called for the State of the Nation Address to become more of a scorecard, with the president reporting on implementation of previous promises rather than making new declarations. “Every time it’s all declarations—solemn declarations—without implementation. It’s really not doing good for the country because the impact of your policy is really not being shown to the people,” he concluded.

The interview revealed an opposition leader positioning himself as an alternative voice on both domestic priorities and international leadership, while managing internal party dynamics ahead of the 2026 elections.

Written by: Mama A. Touray

Following the State of the Nation Address by President Adama Barrow on Thursday, National Assembly members have started delivering responses to the speech delivered by the president, with some praising the progress made while others offer criticism. Among those who commented on the speech was Hon. Abdoulie Njai, the National Assembly member for Banjul Central constituency.

While reacting to Barrow’s statement on electricity, Njai stated that “Everything looks good on document because when it comes to rural electrification, based on the speech they are more focus on accessibility than quality because when we were in chambers light was jumping on and off.”

Hon. Njai continued: “In as much as we are aiming for rapid development, are we getting value for money when it comes to quality production because people pay taxes to be able to enjoy these amenities, so in as much as we are moving rapidly in some of these development projects, it begs the question if we are really getting value for money.”

Hon. Njai further stated that the government faces challenges which the president left out in his statement. “Yes, the speech was a summary of what has transpired within the pass year however base on what I have seen when it comes to the challenges I have not seen the president go in-depth as to some of the sectorial challenges that are hindering certain processes ongoing.”

“When it comes to the area of accountability, the president talked slightly especially when it comes to judicial issues even though we know that there are a lot of ongoing legal cases that has to do with corruption and accountability but from the speech we haven’t seen the president going a little in-depth as to the measures government is taking in mitigating them,” he argued.

“We know it’s hard to do away from corruption but mitigating the process should be taken,” he added.

On the other hand, Njai stated that when it comes to certain sectors, the approaches are good “especially when it comes to media and broadcasting, we have seen headway when it comes to certain processes.”