Yahya Jammeh’s Corruption-Part IV $4,480,634.87 

By EBRIMA G. SANKAREH Editor-In-Chief

Readers of The Gambia Echo will recall that on Thursday October 30^th, 2008 we published Part III under our The Money Trail  series chronicling the massive and dubious money transfer scheme between Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh and Lamin Sabi Sanyang, the country’s once untouchable Financial Attaché in Washington DC. Predictably, even before we finished our scandalous revelations, perhaps the most withering indictment of the Yahya Jammeh regime, the co-conspirator, Sanyang is now languishing behind the granite walls of The Gambia’s all too powerful National Intelligence Agency (NIA). In the past two weeks of Sanyang’s detention, many heads have been rolling as investigators widen their nets. Today, we at the Echo are please to deliver as promised, conclude our report based on incontrovertible and unimpeachable financial documents in our custody. Our indefatigable Banjul operatives, Kissy Kissy Mansa and Wato Seeta have just completed their investigations and here we go again.

First Lady Zainab Jammeh, husband President Jammeh & Powerful Presidential Pimp Lamin Sabi Sanyang 

However, to refresh your memory, let us backtrack a little on our last report in part III. Where “using City Bank Check No.2421 and Check No. 2422 Lamin Sanyang and friend, Abubacarr Kalleh received payments. This is the first direct payment of money from Sanyang to Sanyang. With check No.2421 Sanyang pays Redcoat Express (i.e. Kalleh), $11,855.50 for shipment of 44 Dell computers. Then using Check No. 2422 under the particulars “purchase of a second hand car,” Lamin Sabi Sanyang pays himself $18,500.00. This is followed by an additional payment to Sanyang with Check No.2424 in the amount of $2,526.94 under the particulars, “purchase of pelican lights and air ticket to Minnesota. It is anybody’s guess why Sanyang would use $2,526.94 to buy pelican lights and what business he had in Minnesota. The next check in the sequence Check No. 2425 goes to Ebrima J.T. Kujabie. Surprisingly and in all fairness, at the time in question, June-December, 2007, Ebrima J.T. Kujabie was a presidential griot masquerading as President Jammeh’s Press Director in Banjul. How Kujabie could have therefore, allegedly received Check No. 2425 ($2,000.00) between June and December 2007 when he was busy reporting innocent Gambians to the National Intelligence Agency defies imagination. Could he have spread his bizarre tentacles in Washington while still operating in Banjul?  Or was he here vacationing at the time?”

With your memories refreshed, let us continue with part IV. Under the particulars 4Less Depot providing no date, no account number except the letters A/C, Sanyang paid out $27, 578.48 for “purchase of batteries & replacement bulbs.” This is followed by a similar transaction with Northern Tools where Sanyang paid “$29,580.88 for purchase of spotlights.” He then paid “Gaithersburg Equipment $102,269.00 (for) purchase of additional chainsaws.” Using the same pattern, Lamin Sanyang paid “Magnum Light $111, 870.65 for purchase of 2 generator sets.” He then made another payment to Magnum Light in the amount of “$10,000.00, deposit for 10 flood lights.”

Curiously, one sees evidence of the famous S600 Mercedes Benz with City bank check No. 2476 in which Sanyang paid out 1,876.00 to Sunrise Financial for the car’s insurance coverage. Remember the S600 was bought from Euro Motors with check No.2469 at a cost of $151,625.00. The car has since been housed at one Queen Fadera’s home, an Embassy chauffeur where it continues to gather dust. The only time the car runs is when the President’s wife visits the United States or when Lamin Sanyang wants to go on a joy ride. Remember, when Yahya Jammeh and his gang of murderers first came to power, they adopted Thomas Sankara’s policy and promised never to ride on a Mercedes. Only the civilian ministers Susan Waffa Ogoo, Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, Aminah Fall Sonko, Satang Janneh Jow, John Paul Bojang, Ousman Koro Ceesay (RIP), Fafa Edrissa Mbaye, Musa Mbenga and Bemba Tambedou rode on the 1-90 Mercedes Benz cars the junta seized from the deposed PPP government of Sir Dawda K. Jawara. Today, Jammeh flies his own presidential jet with corruption everywhere especially, among his closest family members and friends. 

From Sunrise Financial, we see Lamin Sanyang yet again; pay his buddy at “Redcoat Express with City Bank Check No.2502 in the amount of  $50,000.00 as deposit for sea freight of 12 buses.”

Using City Bank Check No.2512, Sanyang paid Atlanta based Alpha Travels Agency $21,965.00 as air ticket payment for His Excellency President Yahya Jammeh’s guests from Washington, DC and New York. These guests are the African American beauty queens some of whom are enjoying presidential scholarships in major universities across the United States. Ironically, Gambian students cannot even pay for their high school tuition fees and each year, hundreds of high school students drop out of schools for lack of money.

Perhaps the most bizarre is Lamin Sanyang’s payment to Westin Hotel using City Bank Check No. 2513 as deposit payment for President Jammeh’s wife, Madam Zainab Jammeh in the amount of $21,000.00. Why President Jammeh’s wife will pay $21,000.00 United States dollars to stay at the Westin hotel when hospitals in The Gambia cannot handle minor treatments, when schools do not have enough qualified teachers, when soldiers have no incentives to hang onto after discharge from the military, when roads from Brikama to Basse are not motorable, is everybody’s guess. 

Predictably, the last payment effected by Lamin Sanyang has yet again; no check number except the dubious letters A/C being payment made to Utah based International Armoring in the amount of $455, 590.00 being final payment for the armoring of the Nissan Armadas that were shipped to The Gambia. After all these dubious transactions, Sanyang arrives at a sub total of $4,437,327.03. According to the books, Mr. Sanyang’s balance of cash available was $43,307.84 out of a grand total of  $4,480,634.87.

Editor’s Note: This then concludes our scoop on financial waste, malfeasance, greed and official corruption within the corridors of Yahya Jammeh’s government based on unimpeachable documentary evidence in our custody. We have challenged The Gambia Government and all parties named in this scandalous reportage to take legal action against The Gambia Echo, LLC if they felt the reports were malicious and baseless. That said, we must add, that we have been humbled by the number of agencies and organizations that have contacted us following these revelations and we hope The United States Department of State in the Obama administration as well as other government and quasi-government institutions will continue to monitor monies sent to The Gambia government to ensure that the poor rural farmers get their dues. We did not run these reports to be famous nor to create enemies, but for the love of country- The Gambia. Along the line, we have generated so many enemies and haters but to all of them, we say The Gambia is bigger than friendship, The Gambia is bigger than family, The Gambia is bigger than tribe- it is our country. When The Gambia Echo began rattling Lamin Sabi Sanyang’s corruption nest, numerous people who knew our boyhood friendship called trying to pacify me. To all of them, I said “The Gambia is bigger than friendship and if reporting the truth means loosing friends, then so be it and today, more than ever, together with my big brother, mentor and intrepid colleague Mathew K. Jallow we renew our determination to fight for truth, justice and democracy in The Gambia and for Gambians. This fight will continue unabated to the end, regardless of the consequences. In the coming days, we will focus on two vital institutions- The Gambia Ports Authority and the Central Bank of The Gambia. Some people who were inspectors at the Bank shamelessly stole money that was meant for the incinerator and diverted it to their personal accounts. Some of those fled the country and now live in the United States and they, like their corrupt colleagues need to be exposed. Instead of worrying about newspaper reports on how Sanyang and friends wasted over 4million US dollars, they should begin worrying about the monies they diverted from the Central Bank incinerator.

In a related twist, as we went to press, our Banjul operative Kissy Kissy Mansa, reports that following erstwhile Ambassador Dodou Bammy Jagne’s questioning, his once famous First Secretary, Tijan Masanneh Ceesay may be interviewed by a team of investigators poised to leave for Washington. While the circumstances surrounding Tijan’s supposed interview are not clear, what we do know is that had he returned to The Gambia, Tijan too may have long disappeared from the face of this earth. It can be recalled that when The Gambia Echo first reported Tijan’s problems with the dictator, a worried friend of his suggested that Ceesay should sue us for libel. Like yesterday, we are ever ready for any potential legal action.