Sickened by Gambia’s $30M Oil Scandal: Ministers, Police, Banks All Complicit

By: Ndey Jobarteh

After reading KERR FATOU’s report and then Standard Newspaper The Gambia’s devastating exposé on the Joint Committee findings, devastating reports on the $30M oil scandal, I am not just outraged, I am absolutely sickened.

This is not mere “incompetence” nor “mismanagement”. This is grand corruption, collusion, and the deliberate sabotage of our nation’s interests by those entrusted to protect them.

According to The Standard, we have a former Petroleum Minister, now shamelessly holding the Tourism portfolio, who bypassed Cabinet, forced through an illegal monopoly that handed our petroleum market to foreign hands, and then interfered with police investigations to ensure the main suspect could slip away.

We have a former Police Chief, now Interior Minister, who shut down criminal investigations, twisted the truth under oath, and failed to uphold even the most basic standards of command responsibility.

The head of Gam Petroleum stands accused of perjury, acting as a direct agent for these foreign interests, and engineering sweetheart deals that ripped off Gambian businesses and consumers.

And it doesn’t stop there. This same report lays bare how the Central Bank, GRA, GPA, PURA, plus powerful banks like Ecobank and Access Bank, all stood by, ignored glaring red flags, and enabled suspected illicit financial flows. Even our lawyers, the supposed guardians of legality, helped craft the shady structures that funneled millions offshore.

According to Kerr Fatou’s report, Alagie S. Darboe, Chairperson of the National Assembly’s Joint Committee, told the nation that after an “exhaustive inquiry”:

“The allegations of bribery, money laundering, and tax evasion by Polycrypt Energy Limited and Ultimate Bid… could not be established.”

But then he admitted something even more damning:

“The inquiry reveals serious governance and regulatory failure, pervasive noncompliance with financial, tax, and corporate laws, and a troubling disregard for due process by both public institutions and private entities involved in the transaction.”

And if that was not indictment enough, he added:

“Systematic weaknesses in institutional oversight, inadequate enforcement of existing laws, and collusions, whether by omission or commission, have resulted in significant risks to public revenue, financial integrity, and the credibility of national institutions.”

This is not “mismanagement.” This is theft. This is betrayal. This is treasonous behavior against every ordinary Gambian who struggles daily while their leaders sell off the country piece by piece.

The Joint Committee has recommended criminal investigations, company closures, director bans, regulatory sanctions, and censure votes against public officials.

This is corruption laid bare in its most shameless form, Ministers abusing their power to rig markets and protect criminals, Police Chiefs shutting down investigations, Regulatory Bodies asleep at the wheel, Banks and Lawyers greasing the machinery, all while the Gambian people are left to suffer under skyrocketing fuel costs and crumbling trust.

If after all this these people remain in power, if there are no prosecutions, if institutions keep pretending this is business as usual, then it proves one devastating truth: that in The Gambia today, corruption is not merely tolerated, it is rewarded.

The Gambian people deserve a clean break from this rot. We must demand it, loudly, fearlessly, and relentlessly. Enough is enough.

Sulayman Ben Suwareh, Open Gambia have been ringing this alarm bell for years, warning us of deep-seated corruption, collusion between government officials and shady foreign interests, and the systemic betrayal of the Gambian people. Today, they are fully vindicated.

Thank you for you continuous great work🙏🏿

May God protect and bless this country from bad leadership!!

May God protect the Good people of this country!!

May God bless The Gambian!!