Hon. Suku Singhateh; Gambia’s Ali Baba & The Forty Thieves

BY TIJAN NIMAGA, Bronx New York

After reading The Gambia Echo’s exclusive news and the wonderful journalistic work demonstrated by editors Ebrima G. Sankareh and Mathew K. Jallow on the Honourable Suku Singhateh saga, I was reminded of one prominent business tycoon in the late 1970s, who bought and loaned groundnuts to Gambian farmers in the Kombos. Seyfo Sanjali Bojang was a very rich businessman whose economic power was well known throughout the country. For the interest of the younger generation, he became a major distributor for Gambian farmers. With his huge wealth, this tycoon loaned groundnuts to farmers who would pay him with double the amount given after the harvest. He became the hope of many Gambian farmers who, at that time, would happily sell all their bags of nuts knowing that Sanjali Bojang would replenish their supply at the beginning of the rainy season. However, this practice went bankrupt due to unpaid debts and other unknown social issues. Unlike Suku, Sanjali Bojang did not cheat local farmers. Instead he established his own laws of lending and paying. He did not force farmers to buy his nuts or make them wait for the money due them. However, many farmers blame The Gambia government for Sanjali’s failure and, as memories of those past years continued to haunt us, we were left with no option but to watch the failure of The Gambia Co-operative Union, while Suku continues his role as Ali Baba and the forty thieves.

Suku Singhateh’s daylight robbery has been exposed to the whole world and the publication of the entire information regarding the checks Suku Singhateh received from Action Aid, the British Charity, and the bounced checks that poor farmers attempted to deposit at the Trust Bank have removed all doubt and also answered some of the questions as to why our nation’s economy continues to slump.

In a country where nearly half of the population lives in abject poverty, it is a huge disaster if the aid that foreign organizations and donors offer is stolen, not by the poor, but by the well off, diplomats, Cabinet ministers and members of Parliament. The main question here is, can President Yaya Jammeh deny knowing about the deal between the farmers of Central River Region and the monster; that is Suku Singhateh? Action Aid and the farmers could not have done this deal without Suku, and Suku could not have done the deal without permission from a senior government official, presumably a Cabinet minister or President Yaya Jammeh himself. However, since there is no evidence to support this theory, Gambians should use the information at hand to bring Suku to justice. If Suku fails to pay the farmers or Action Aid, he should be tried in a competent court of law whereby, even if the President denied knowledge of any of the transactions, witnesses, senior government officials and the bank managers who helped Suku to deposit those checks into his personal account could all be brought to justice. Furthermore, the government should start freezing any existing accounts in Suku’s name until Action Aid or the farmers get back their money or the promised groundnuts.

Every Gambian can now see that all the efforts of the international organizations and foreign donors, made to help The Gambia meet the World Bank’s 2020 deadline to eradicate poverty in Africa, are just lining the pockets of the rich. Having seen one of the numerous ways that some of our senior government officials, especially those elected to represent us, steal every butut that is meant to build our country’s ailing economy with our own eyes, it is time for a regime change or we are doomed forever.

To me Suku Singhateh’s robbery is like the fictional story, which has been turned into a movie as well as acted on stages in theaters all over the world, ALI BABA & THE FORTY THEIVES. In this context the farmers are Ali Baba, while Suku is the master of all thieves. The story of Ali Baba and the forty thieves is about two brothers Cassim and Ali Baba. Cassim was rich and Ali Baba was poor. Ali Baba made his living by cutting wood in the forest and selling it in the town but one day, his poverty came to an end when he was on his normal daily routine and forty men on horseback, who were apparently thieves, came to hide their stolen booty. As their captain leaked their secret words, “open sesame’’ a door opened in the rocks and thieves went in. For fear of being caught, Ali Baba sat in the tree quietly hiding until the Captain of the thieves came out again and this time said “Shut Sesame’’. The door on the rocks immediately shut down. When the thieves had gone Ali Baba went to where the Captain had stood and said, “open sesame’’ and the door in the rocks opened. To his surprise the inside of the rock was well lit and rich bales of merchandise took him by surprise. There was silk, stuffed-brocades, all piled together, and gold and silver in heaps and money in leather purses. Without further delay, Ali Baba loaded bags with as much merchandise as he could and packed them on the donkeys he had brought with him. On returning home he told his wife of his findings and his brother Cassim, whose greed led him to the treasure early in the morning when Ali Baba told him the secret words to the cave. Cassim went into the cave and took as much as he could in gold and silver. However, in his greed, he forgot the code phrase, “open sesame” and so, when the thieves came back they found him in the cave with stranded donkeys laden with their stolen goods. They killed him and cut his corpse into pieces and, later, after various struggles with the thieves, Ali Baba’s slave killed all thirty-nine of them after an attempt on his master’s life. Finally, in the end, the same slave killed the Captain of the thieves Ali Baba, his family, and the slave to whom he granted his freedom lived happily ever after.

If Suku reads this story, I have no doubt that he would recall occasions when he met poor elderly farmers, either on their way to their farms or returning from them. Some of these farmers can hardly afford the three main meals that an average Gambian eats every day. Providing breakfast, lunch and dinner for their families is sometimes difficult for ordinary Gambians but the farmers, whose entire annual income was diverted by greedy Suku Singhateh, can only afford the two main meals of lunch and dinner. Sometimes some of them go without food themselves in order to feed their younger siblings.

Suku and his band of thieves, however, while the farmers whom they robbed wait in anticipation, are living in their air conditioned houses in Kombo St. Mary, enjoying the stolen money in the hope that they have fooled the marginalized, the poor and voiceless citizens, who, even if they speak, would not be heard.

Unlike Suku Singhateh, Gambian farmers are attempting to make a living in the informal sector with no professional skills to speak of and have little other choice than to farm in order to survive. Under these circumstances, it is sad and undemocratic if the people we elect to represent us in Parliament turn out to be individuals who rob and destroy every possible attempt of ordinary people to achieve a livelihood.

Finally, all the many irregularities perpetrated by the Jammeh regime since he came to power, could end if he stepped down for good. Mr. President, you may ask why we are watching your every move. In the first place you forced your feet into Sir Dawda’s shoes without knowing if they were your size, so you must also be ready to digest our outspoken words, which we believe is the only solution to our nation’s ongoing economic trauma in which your thieves are stealing from us every day. If you don’t like what we say, then stay until a solution is found in regard to your faith, or just simply resign.

Hon. Suku Singhateh& President Jammeh