Former-DEPUTY AMBASSADOR CAMARA ACCUSES GOV’T OF FORCED RETIREMENT PMO rejects allegations

Lamin Camara, a seasoned Gambian public servant and former Permanent Secretary and deputy head of mission at the Gambian embassy in Bissau, has accused the government of ‘unjustifiably’ forcing him to retire.

In an interview with The Standard, Camara alleged that his forceful retirement was a ‘witch hunt’ allegedly orchestrated by Ambassador Amie Fabureh, following ”his principled stance and transformative work at the embassy’.

He further alleged that the accusations against him (poor leadership and a demeaning attitude) are bogus claims designed to end his 35-year career due to his honesty and commitment to reform.

“I served my nation with the best commitment one can imagine, from the Ministry of Finance, where most people know me as Principal Economist, and later Permanent Secretary before I moved to the Ministry of Agriculture and then to the Gambian embassy in Bissau,” Camara said.

He recounted that Amie Fabureh was his minister at Agriculture but they ended up having disagreements and because of that he was moved to Bissau where, interestingly, Fabureh too was later posted as ambassador.

“When President Barrow came to Bissau in 2023 the ambassador connived with some members of the Gambian community in Bissau to tell the president that I was the bad guy,” Camara alleged.

Mr Camara said that was how he was recalled and for fifteen months, he was sitting down receiving his salary without doing anything.

“It was when I raised the issue that they formed a panel to investigate these allegations. They sent six people to Bissau to interview a few people including the ambassador’s driver. It was when the investigators returned and submitted their report that I was sent on forceful retirement,” Camara complained.

He said he did not blame President Barrow as a person but the head of state is being misled by some ‘selfish’ people around him.”

“The president should be vigilant about internal machinations and personal agendas that could undermine both individual careers and the broader interests of the government,” he said.

According to Camara, his experience highlights the fragility of public service in The Gambia where internal rivalries and personal interests can have significant consequences for governance.

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The Standard tried all day yesterday to contact Ambassador Fabureh but could not get a number to reach her for comments. However the Permanent Secretary at the Personnel Management Office PMO, Lamin Jawara, told The Standard that a panel of investigators had looked into Mr Camara’s allegations against Ambassador Fabureh and found them to be not true.

“When Camara was recalled, the PMO was notified for his possible redeployment to another place and he was on the waiting list until the moment he wrote a petition to the Chief of Staff making allegations against Ambassador Amie Fabureh,” PS Jawara told The Standard.

According to PS Jawara, Camara had alleged amongst other things that Ambassador Fabureh orchestrated his recall which allegations were investigated by a panel which concluded that most of the things Camara said about Ambassador Fabureh were not true. 

PS Jawara further revealed that the panel further concluded that Mr Camara doesn’t have good leadership qualities and that led to his forceful retirement. He said the days are gone when civil servants will be fired based on a directive from the top.

“Every matter regarding public servants is taken through due process. We have dealt with a lot of issues including inviting ministers to testify about certain issues. I remember ministers even missing cabinet meetings because of that,” PS Jawara said.

Source: The Standard