………Disgruntled Gambian Student In Taiwan Exposes Ambassador Juwara And His Embassy Staff!

“The Embassy has a staff of 5, comprising of the Ambassador Mawdor Juwara, Felix Ebrima Badjie as the first secretary and Famara Sanyang as the financial attaché. Felix Badjie's wife as the cleaner and Lamin as the driver. The first secretary's wife and the financial attaché’s wife are not in talking terms, because of the push and pull for the cleaning job at the embassy, which is done once a week.” said the concerned Gambian student.

The Gambian Ambassador to Taiwan Mawdor Juwara has been accused of refusing to release 5000 Euros gift given to The Gambian students in that Island country by President Yahya Jammeh, the Freedom Newspaper can reveal. The money was given to the 89 Gambian students in Taiwan by the Gambian leader during his December 2007 visit to Taiwan, an aggrieved student told the Freedom Newspaper. Ambassador Juwara who is running a five staff Embassy, has also been accused of unnecessary foot-dragging, bureaucratic red-tap among others. The Ambassador’s failure to handover the said money to the students is becoming a main bond of contention. The aggrieved student who begged anonymity said the Ambassador went ahead and opened a bank account on their behalf with the said Jammeh funds without their prior consent. “ Hello Mr Mbai, thanks for the good job you are doing. I want to update you and your other readers about the situation of the students in Taiwan. I want you to investigate on these points I am giving you, then I can give you everything in detail. HE, the President gave us euro5000 for all Gambian students to share since the 7th of December 2007, but Juwara is still holding the money. He opened a Euro account without our consent. He called up a meeting in his office last week concerning the money, this was the time he told us that he opened a Euro account and is waiting on us to tell him on what we want to do with the money.” alleges the concerned student.

The aggrieved student wants Ambassador Juwara to account for the whereabouts of the said funds. While, he strongly lamented about the Ambassador’s unilateral decision in using their funds to open a bank account without their prior knowledge, he also called on the Ambassador to release the said funds to them without further delays.

The concerned student who emailed the Editor of the Freedom Newspaper vowed to spill the beans in the days to come if the Ambassador does not stop his “autocratic and dictatorial” tendencies against Gambian students in Taiwan. The student also went further to explain how they secured scholarships to read in Taiwan.

“We are currently 87 students in number. 25 are doing petroleum, who are graduating this June. 25 who came last year for computer science. These 50 are under Gambia Government scholarship. You have 18 under ICDF doing masters program and the other 18 under MOFA doing BSC.” said the spokesperson of the group.

According to the concerned student, currently there is a big division and infighting at The Gambian Mission in Taiwan. “the Embassy has a staff of 5, comprising of the Ambassador Mawdor Juwara, Felix Ebrima Badjie as the first secretary and Famara Sanyang as the financial attaché. Felix Badjie's wife as the cleaner and Lamin as the driver. The first secretary's wife and the financial attaché’s wife are not in talking terms, because of the push and pull for the cleaning job at the embassy, which is done once a week.”

On Yahya Jammeh's visit last December, continued the concerned student “nothing was said to the petroleum students about the oil exploration and what is their fate when they go back home this June. All said to them was LOOKING FORWARD SEEING YOU THIS JUNE. FULL STOP.”

The concerned student who broke the silence added that “HE gave us euro5000 for all Gambian students to share since the 7th of December 2007, but Juwara is still holding the money. He opened a euro account without our consent. He called up a meeting in his office last week concerning the money, this was the time he told us that he opened a Euro account and is waiting on us to tell him on what we want to do with the money.”

The student also hinted about a major division among Gambian students in Taiwan. “We the students are not united. 90% of the students here are Jola. A class mate of mine is around later. I will give you more details.” he said.

It’s imperative to note that this is the first time that a Gambian student in Taiwan had emailed the Freedom Newspaper complaining about unfair treatment against Ambassador Juwara. He also accuses the Ambassador of failing to release funds given to them by the President.

Editors of the Freedom Newspaper contacted independent sources in Taiwan to further authenticate the story. “ It’s true that the President had given us Euros 5000. The money is currently with Ambassador Juwara. He called us for a meeting to sound our opinion about what we might want to do with the money. He committed a mistake by opening an account for us without contacting us. The Ambassador had these funds for the past two months. Whether the funds are in safe hands at this very hour, it’s hard to confirm. Students had repeatedly lamented about the Ambassador’s failure to handover the money to them. I can bet that this story you are enquiring about would further create more confusion among students. They will do everything to vindicate themselves, but this is a true story. You source is very right. I was among the group who met the Ambassador.” a Gambian student told our Europe Correspondent.

The student tells the Freedom Newspaper that the least they expect from the Ambassador was to help revamp their living conditions and not to sit on their money. “ He have no justification whatsoever to withhold our money. The money is ours and he should hand it over. The Ambassador should instead help us and not to exploit us. This is unacceptable to say the least.” said our source.

Our source observes that the publication of the said story might warrant a reaction from certain quarters, but insists that all what “ is testified here, is the truth and nothing but the truth. The President needs to look into our complaints. The Ambassador is just here for himself and not for the general interest of Gambians. All they cared for is to line up their pockets and not the plight of us students. That Embassy in Taiwan is a mess. There is a lot of infighting. I wonder how they can represent The Gambia, effectively when they have individual differences. We are very disappointed. This is not the type of Embassy we want to see in Taiwan.” said the student.

Prior to the appointment of Mawdor Juwara as Ambassador, Essa Bokarr Sey was the Head of that Diplomatic Mission in Taiwan. Sey was later moved to Washington DC, as Gambia’s youngest serving Ambassador.

Former Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service Mamburay Njie also served as Gambia’s Ambassador to Taiwan. Mr. Njie who was fired recently by the President, following allegations of “economic crimes and abuse office,” has been rehired, this time to serve as Gambia’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

All attempts to solicit comment from Ambassador Mawdor Juwara proved abortive. The accused Ambassador was indisposed for comments.

Foreign Ministry sources confirmed that the President had extended the said 5000 Euros gift to the Gambian students in Taiwan. " HE indeed extended the said gift to the students. To the best of my recollection, the money was handed to the Ambassador. You need to call here on Monday for further details." said the Foreign Ministry official.