The Gambia Co-operative Union & Other Economic Issues- Where are We Really Headed?

 

BY TIJAN NIMAGA, Bronx New York

 

 

Hon. Suku Singhateh& President Jammeh

Many issues have been debated concerning The Gambia’s ailing economy, but we must not forget the agricultural element. In the past decade, since President Yaya Jammeh came to power, The Gambia’s life blood- Agriculture has become a complete failure particularly in the production and sale of groundnuts, the country’s main cash crop. The Gambia government’s failure this year, which left many Gambian farmers with no option but to sell their harvest at the local flea markets, LUMOOS, was devastating for them and presented a great sense of economic loss for the government. As the nation continues to endure that economic loss, another shameful stealing of funds generated to help the poor Gambian farmers was perpetrated and kept under the carpet because the culprit is supposedly, the most powerful politician in President Jammeh’s regime. Gambians must always remember that when President Jammeh staged his July coup, corruption allegations were his explanation for the move!

 

The British Charity, Action Aid, in 2005 stepped in with a non-interest loan to peanut farmers from the Central River Region in an effort to help them sell their harvest on time. The poor farmers trusted Hon. Abdoulie Suku Singhateh and gave him their entire harvest worth 8.4 millions dalasis. Instead, the MP for Lower Badibou filled his own pockets. According to information received, SUKU SINGATEH neither bought the groundnuts nor did he refund the money back to the organization. This is daylight robbery and, since President Yaya Jammeh himself is not able to react, then ACTION AID must resolve the issue by ensuring that the funds are either paid back to the farmers or returned to their organization. This example illustrates one of the reasons why The Gambia’s economy will continue to slump. With greedy individuals stealing the little interest the nation is gaining we may as well urge international organizations to stop any cash donations to the Gambian government. We know about Suku because he exposed himself as a thief, but what about those other thieves who hide in the so-called corridors of power? Unless immediate action is taken we are doomed forever.

 

One of the numerous trademarks of President Yaya Jammeh; firing and demoting senior civil servants on a whim is also getting worse, and the most significant reason for this firing spree is his profound personal fear of political opponents launching an attack against his government. For the past few months we have seen President Yaya Jammeh exchange one diplomat for another, one Cabinet Minister for another, almost on a daily basis just as he changes his clothes. His pathological fear has even led him to saying his demons are fighting and, although this statement is crazy to every sane person, will the hiring and firing make any difference to the development of our nation? The answer is simply no. A government that hires today and fires tomorrow will always face very difficult challenges in obtaining accurate records of various government activities. Changing one senior officer for another completely erases records and buries any malpractice that has been carried out by the officer in question. Therefore, the new ‘’SUCKER’’, as the Americans would say, will begin with his or her own trick already in mind, knowing that he or she will be fired one day just like his or her predecessor. Such is the situation in The Gambia today.

 

The move made by President Yaya Jammeh by sacking three Cabinet Ministers in a single day is a huge national disaster and will make another large contribution towards setting back any efforts being made to nurse our nation’s ailing economy. As a related issue, the groundnut-trading season has come and almost gone with some farmers not knowing where they can sell their harvest. The long time tradition of Gambian groundnut farmers selling to the Co-Operative Union has almost collapsed. Thank God that the local flea markets, ‘LUMOO’’ exist, otherwise farmers would have to fight the Gambian Authorities to cross the border into Senegal where they would get more for their harvest than they would from the Gambia Government. According to the information I have been given many farmers smuggle their harvest in the middle of the night into Senegal to sell it for a better price. This fact is another reason why the nation’s economy will continue to worsen progressively.

 

How were the groundnuts bought from local farmers, gathered and prepared to ship to European markets during Sir Dawda’s regime? Any Gambian citizen who has visited Banjul will be familiar with the image on the outskirts of the Capital of a groundnut store and groundnut oil refinery. These buildings, just a few meters from Denton Bridge, refined groundnut oil and stored groundnuts from all over the country before the nuts were exported to England and other parts of the world. SARRO, as the place was locally called, economically united the Gambia to the West, as well as to its African neighbors.  It also became a beacon of hope for The Gambia Co-operative Union, which annually purchased groundnuts from local farmers. Alahagi Sir Dawda Jawara created this unique national economic platform and, under his careful watch the Co-operative Union continued to gain success, despite the fact that there was widespread stealing and corruption, mainly by its senior officials. In the end, the once vibrant Union as well as the Gambia Produce Marketing Board (GPMB) went bankrupt. But until the coup, farmers’ produce were marketed.

 

As I write this article it seems as if I am being transported back to the glorious days of the Gambia Co-operative Union when, riding in the GPTC bus, the huge pyramid-like tomb of groundnuts was visible to the naked eye at various Seccos along the highways around the country. It made me so proud of our nation’s farmers. Now those days are gone and that wonderful image of the beautiful noise of the GPTC bus and the roaring sounds from the lorries with their convoys of bags of groundnuts as the laborers taunted and provoked pedestrians will remain only objects and images of the past as we continue to nurse our nation’s ailing economy. The final processing of the groundnuts before being exported to England ended at GPMB but continued from there to the refineries, and some of the waste products from the nuts were also very valuable for the production of hand made soap by local women. This locally made soup called Soda, provided a means of survival for most women in the Banjul and Serekunda areas and most school children had their tuition fess paid from this modest income generating outlet. 

 

All these areas in the economic development of The Gambia were beneficial during Sir Dawda’s regime. That was a time when the groundnut trade boosted our nation’s economy and was also a very rewarding economic source for Gambian farmers. Since this single source of income is no longer rewarding for local Gambian farmers, the fear of the future still continues. President Yaya Jammeh should know that The Gambia’s economy cannot achieve growth as long as the annual yield in groundnuts continues to drop. The re-export of goods from The Gambia to midland Africa is not a stable and reliable source of income since the cost of goods continues to grow each day. The re-exportation of goods, which was very good during the early 1980s, is not the same as it was. In the late 1980s there was only national collectivity in Europe and free trade existed in all European countries. Now that Europe is entirely bound by common economic and trade rules, those countries that used to deal with Africa, especially, small countries like our very own Gambia are forced to follow rules established by the European Union. With such economic barriers between African countries and the West the only solution for a better economic establishment is good governance. The everyday firing of one senior civil servant or exchanging one diplomat every week is not the answer to our country’s problems. Rather the answer is to control the economic resource of our nation. The main problem that is affecting the Gambian economy is the government’s failure to deal with foreign investors who only care for their own interests. The government should also know that foreign Banks are not there for the interests of The Gambia or for the economic development of The Gambian government. Foreign Banks, just like foreign investors, play a role in the distribution process that is mainly geared towards their own interests and the transfer of their interests to already developed countries without re-investing money in The Gambia. What I mean is that foreign investors have only a one-time investment plan.  When they achieve their goal the interest is sent to the developed countries for other businesses where they can earn more interest. Meanwhile, in contrast, the Gambian government continues to loose or just remain stranded in its efforts to establish a profitable economic platform and, until it takes action the economy will always remain as it is now, since the interest the government should gain is always consumed by those that should boost it up. This is why I reason that the best source for the Gambia’s ailing economic troubles, the entire political life and the remedy for the failure of the current regime is the DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST model which will nationalize all this trouble under one umbrella government with the power of the entire nation. Even if President Yaya Jammeh resigns today, an idea Echo commentator Yadicon Charreh has recently rubbished as living in fantasyland, it would still be hard to start again from where our master politician, Alhagi Sir Dawda was forcibly stopped.

 

My last words to president Yaya Jammeh is that changing one diplomat or minister for another, or firing them, will only worsen our economic struggle. Mr. president, this is a job you forced yourself into but Gambians will be glad to see you go so that we can start to rebuild our already ruined nation. 

 

CHEER UP COMPATROITS AND LET THE STRUGGLE CONTINUE!!!

 

Editor’s Note: Echo Editors Mathew K. Jallow and Ebrima G. Sankareh are piecing together the exclusive piece on Hon. Suku Singhateh. As promised copies of the legal agreement and the bounced checks will all be posted here for all to see. These are not mere allegations as other may think, we have documentary evidence. That story will be followed with the Kujabies and Landing Badjie story and then a new piece on Neneh Macdouall and Jammeh about the sale of Gamtel. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this article or any other article or image, or portions thereof, in any form or context without the expressed permission of The Gambia Echo Newspaper.