By Omar Bah
Mai Ahmad Fatty, leader of the Gambia Moral Congress and former Interior Minister, has welcomed the National Assembly’s move to establish a parliamentary enquiry into the sale of assets seized from former president Yahya Jammeh.
Fatty described the initiative as “bold” and “reassuring,” emphasising its importance for transparency and public accountability in a matter involving assets valued at over $300 million, which were confiscated following the Janneh Commission’s findings on Jammeh-era corruption.
Fatty expressed particular satisfaction that the investigation will be led by a bipartisan parliamentary sub-committee, rather than a government-controlled body, ensuring representation from both the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) and opposition NAMs. He called on the Assembly to pass the motion without hesitation and insisted that the hearings must adhere to due process, focusing on facts and law rather than speculation or emotion. Fatty also stressed the need for the process to uphold constitutional principles, especially those safeguarding human dignity and the presumption of innocence.
”I commend the Majority Leader of Parliament Hon Billay G Tunkara, for presenting a motion for the plenary to discuss the NPP-proposal of a parliamentary sub-committee investigation into the matter,” Fatty said in a statement shared with The Standard.
This bold initiative with the concurrence of the caucus, he added, clearly demonstrates the robust commitment of the government in ensuring propriety in this sensitive issue of fundamental public concern and interest.
“The fact that it’s a parliamentary sub-committee, to be constituted by both the NPP and opposition NAMs,and not a unilaterally established government controlled entity, is formidably reassuring. The goal, among others, is to determine who did what, obtain what and what went wrong (if any) and to ensure transparent public accountability mechanism. We must always rely on legal processes and not sentiment, emotion, hearsay or supplant subjective personal opinions as established evidence,” he said.
He urged the National Assembly to conduct the said hearings in public, and to engage the services of forensic experts, where absolutely necessary.
