THE MEAT CRISIS- NOT YET OVER

Jammeh Exploits Poverty Stricken Gambians

By M.B. O. Gaye, Contributing Writer     

Good Morning Pa,       

We were told that the meat crisis have been solved through the intervention of the President following his meeting with all the Regional Governors including the DG of the Gambia Livestock Marketing Agency (GLMA). Interestingly, what type of livestock will the GLMA be marketing? Apart from Kanilai Farms, I am not aware of any significant amount of cattles owned by the Gambia Government. Yet the agency has a Board of Directors and it is legally registered as a Public Enterprise with Gambian tax payers footing all expenses for its wasteful operations. We were also told that Trust Bank Gambia Ltd had given a loan of D600,000.00 (six hundred thousand Dalasis) to each of the five regions purposely to buy cattles from KANILAI FARMS and ease the scarcity of meat in the Gambia. Meantime, Yaya Jammeh was heard through the GRTS that he was going to supply meat at D55 per kg. That news was, as usual,  received with loud pomp and cheers from his naive and ever-obedient cabinet.

The question that needs to be asked is: how long will Gambians continue to be fooled by the 'gangster' policies of Yaya Jammeh? If each regional government received D 600,000.00 as short-term loan from Trust Bank and according to latest information received from Banjul, Kanilai Farms supplied the 5 regions with 18 cattles making a total of 90 cattles, then dividing the D 3,000,000.00 by 90 gives a sale price of D 33,333.30.

Obviously, Kanilai Farms (Yaya Jammeh) made good profits from these sales. Obviously, the municipalities can sell at a lower price per kilogram since it is not their business to engage in selling meat. They are only tasked with obtaining and subsequently settling the loans from Trust Bank, where Yaya Jammeh is a major shareholder.

Now with this analysis, any butcher or businessman will not realize any profit from buying a cow for GMD30 thousand and then retailing at D55/kg. Not even selling the meat at D100 per kilo will yield returns to cover the cost of the bull at D33,333.30 paid to Kanilai Farms. We should not be surprised to learn that these cattles have all been given Yaya Jammeh's cocktail of herbal medicine to ensure total loyalty from his Gambian subjects..

This unsound policy of robbing Peter and giving to Paul is synonymous  with Jammeh's failed economic policies. Dictators are preoccupied with personal enriching at the detriment of the suffering masses. U.S President Barak Obama put it clearly in his historic speech at the Ghanaian Parliament in July 2009,  "governments that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable, and more successful than governments that do not'.  He went further to say that, '  No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end" I hope President Jammeh was listening and pay heed to these wise counsels from an illustrious son of Africa.

What we, Gambians need is not short-term measures for filling the 'gaps' created after skimming off money due to retrogressive policies, but things that will transform our lives and lift us out of poverty. If the son of a poor Jola woman who used to roam the streets of Banjul and the Kombos selling locally-made brooms and 'neytatoo' (there is no English word for this smelly but nice food ingredient) can now claim to be richer than the nation he is ruling, then Gambians should be mindful of all those hate messages about the west being promulgated and exploited by a President whose sixteen years of rule in power has done more harm than the 400 year-rule of the British. We are tired with messages that have no relevance to us. Gambia alone was not affected by slavery. Countries like Ghana, Mali, Cape Verde, Senegal, Nigeria and others as far as Kenya and Malawi were also affected. In fact, the whole continent suffered immensely as a result of slavery. But that was the past.

Today, in the 21st century, capable, reliable and transparent government institutions are the key to success – strong parliaments and honest leaders; independent judges and journalists; a vibrant private sector and civil society, as well as the availability of essential commodities. These are the things that matters in peoples’ lives. Gambian are tired with daily bombardments of Jammehs achievements made out in short documentaries that are aired at GRST every hour. We all know that government took loans to finance those glorified infrastructure projects.

For me, Kanilai Farms is owned by the taxpaying Gambians. All the money and funds being generated at proceeds from robbing of Gambians. Why is it that all the Court cases brought by the Farms were never treated as civil suits but rather as State cases? I would therefore like to urge the PAC Committed at the National Assembly to include the accounts of Kanilai Farms in their annual reviews. Then Gambians would know the high level of tax evasion and preferential treatment that Jammeh's Farm is getting with regards to contracts for services and Customs duties. Making D3 million for sale of 90 cattles at one go, is quite impressive. But the sad thing is that these are monies given as loans to these regional municipalities which they have to pay in the not-too-distant future through collections of rates and taxes from poor Gambians. This is what Gambians are getting for being loyal to Jammeh. May Allah help us from the strangle of Dictatorship and the hands of a commercially enterprising Head of State.

Once again, thanking you for providing the medium to enlighten our fellow innocent Gambians before it’s too late.

 M.B. O. Gaye