Gambian activist says “elites capture state power”
Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Madi Jobarteh, one of Gambia’s leading activists, on Wednesday expressed disquiet over the governance situation and state of affairs, decrying what he called “elite capture of state power in the Gambia.”
“There is no doubt that the incidence of a few powerful people, aka the ‘elite’, have hijacked the Gambian State to serve their own selfishness at the expense of the masses of the people. Known as ‘Elite Capture’”, Mr. Jobarteh said in a statement to the media.
“This practice, existing since the beginning of independence, has now been perfected at this very moment in this country. Until Gambians recognize ‘Elite Capture’ and position ourselves to combat it, this country shall never be out of poverty, end abuse of power or prevent human rights violations and general backwardness.”
The controversial activist went on to define ‘elite capture’ of state power as involving shaping of policies by a few relatively small classes of people that enable them to appropriate public money for their own good, “or should one say, greed.”
“It takes place when powerful wielders of political power, including civil-military bureaucratic complex, big land owners and businessmen, manipulate policy formulation and make rules of the game for themselves to advance their group’s vested interests. Resulting in inequitable distribution of national wealth, it leads to alienating citizens from the state.”
According to Jobarteh, the World Bank’s definition of elitist groups also includes landlords, industrialists, the bureaucracy as well as commercial banks, urban real estate developers and parliamentarians.
“Understanding the nature of ‘Elite Capture’, one can see clearly how the phenomenon unfolds in the Gambia in broad daylight as we how, since this new administration took over, how public funds are being accessed by using smart legal and policy processes.”
To buttress his point, Jobarteh cited many cases as examples. Firstly, he said instead of going to the parliament to get approval for the 500 million dalasi meant to fight CVID 19, Gambia’s Finance Ministry instead created its own narrative of the law to claim that the money could be obtained by virement.
According to the activist, to further expose how the elite captures public funds, the Finance Minster refused to bring loans to the attention of the parliamentarians for approval.
“But rather told parliament that they have a practice to create domestic loan out of international loans by converting the foreign currency into dalasi in the Central Bank. Thanks to some MPs like Sidia Jatta, Touma Njai and Ya Kumba Jaiteh we now know that this was an illegal means of accessing funds that the elite had perpetuated for ages in this country,” he said.
Jobarteh also lambasted the Barrow Government for awarding multi-million dollar contract without due process.
“By manipulating the legal and policy architecture, officials of the Ministries of Finance and Works committed the Gambia Government to a contract without passing through the Gambia Public Procurement Authority or major tender board or the National Assembly. They claim this is below international loan requirements hence no need to follow the established due process,” he stated.
He went on to catalogue other instances where he alleged that government contracts were given out without following the due process.
"It is the same scenario when you look at the way and manner contracts are given to Semlex for the production of national documents or to the Chinese for the construction of the national internet broadband or the presence of Chinese fishmeal companies in the coastal area. Through Special Investment Certificates the elite have manipulated this system to grant licenses to companies without any benefit to the country. Who created these investment policies? None other than the Elite so that they can get their way around laws in order to access public funds to satisfy their greed, albeit legally and legitimately!
“In all of these instances, the elite circumvent or rationalize the due process in such a way that the uninformed mind will think that their actions are lawful. Because they are the ones in public office, they therefore draft public policies, regulations and contracts to give their actions a semblance of legality when their objective is nothing other than to hijack public money.”
‘Elite capture’ is more than just corruption. It is not any ordinary form of embezzlement by officials to divert or misappropriate public funds especially by the small fish. ‘Elite Capture’ is more than that. It is when these Elites – the Big Fish – thanks to their hold on political and economic power create public policies, laws and contracts that give a semblance of legality and legitimacy to their corrupt practices that enables them to hijack public money,” he added.
To address such a problem, Mr. Jobarteh therefore urged Gambians to stand up and demand for the creation of laws that make access to information a fundamental right.
Currently there is an Access to Information Bill before Gambian parliament but it is yet to be passed and the activist urged lawmakers to act on the bill urgently.
“So that Gambians would have the right to demand and obtain public information in the custody of public institutions. Also there is need for an anti-corruption law and an enforcement institution as well as a whistleblower law to combat corruption and official malfeasance and protect those who expose these crimes,” Jobarteh concluded.
0- PANA MLJ/VAO 6May2020
