Dear Editor,

Please spare me some space to add few facts on the state of the Gambian economy with regard to the D25, 000,000.00 Yaya Jammeh shamelessly demanded from Gambia Ports Authority.

The state of the Gambian economy is worst than we can predict and not comparable to the state where Yaya-The Pirate, took over from the previous regime. He first started with the defunct Gambia Public Transport Cooperation, GPTC, and brought them down. He later turned to The Gambia Telecommunications Companies, Gamtel & Gamcel, and also succeeded in destroying them; not to mention the fines on foreign fishing trawlers caught fishing illegally in Gambian territorial waters which were paid directly to (Yaya) State House with no records for auditing.

He now has his filthy snout-of-the-pig he is, plugged into the GPA through ‘revenues’. This has been for long as we all can remember when he asked Mustapha Njie (Taf) to pay him $30,000,000.00 personally for ordering materials alongside what he Yaya commanded him to order for free through GPA. Whilst he also controls the revenues budgeted for all other sectors of state as he dictates how all ministry budgets are spent. Just imagine Yaya personally deciding an ominous salary increment which was not part of the budget shortly after the budget speech by the Finance minister, for an example. This and the recent announcement on reduced electricity charges are only to score cheap political points.

The foreign exchange rates for the US Dollar (D20.00-D25.00) and the UK Pound Sterling (D40.00-D45.00) are pegged under directives from none other than Yaya Jammeh for two reasons. The overt and only reason he advanced was to strengthen the currency (Dalasi) and economy but this is far from the fact. His real covert motives were firstly to falsify that the economy is positively performing and giving him and his illegitimate government credibility. And the second reason which was principal was that, Yaya is engaged in illegal money-laundering and foreign exchange transactions. With the pegging, he has succeeded in fleecing and siphoning money from those sending money to Gambia from abroad. He thus can pocket the differences from what the real amount of exchange would have been if the rates were left to be determined by legal stock-exchange rates as is the case in all free economies, the world over. This explains why he clamped hard on all local foreign exchange dealers in the country. Those who do not know assume the strength of the Dalasi but cannot understand its weak purchasing power on commodities.

When you want to establish a business in Gambia today you must bribe or allocate a share to Yaya Jammeh or yet be subscribing to his illegitimate foundations and political activities in order to be able to survive. The Economy currently is externally driven by moneys sent from abroad as mainly the families remunerated by relatives abroad, live in some financial comfort in today’s Gambia.

Yaya Jammeh grabbed privately owned land and turned them into his private property in all parts of The Gambia. I also learnt he appointed replacements for the sacked ministers. Well, the new appointees and those already on must know they are on the edges of their seats. Like their predecessors, they have chosen to dine with bare-hands instead of a longer spoon in the case of the devil in Yaya Jammeh. For Yaya is tantamount to evil, like a snake to its lying posture. Both can NEVER change.

I thank you very much.

Yours,

Hakilo.