By Momodou Malcolm Jallow
When The Republic released its bombshell exposé on the murky sale of former dictator Yahya Jammeh’s assets, it didn’t just uncover scandal, it ripped the mask off a system so deeply infested with corruption that the very soul of The Gambia trembles under its weight. What was meant to be a moment of national reckoning, recovering the loot stolen from the Gambian people has now become a glaring indictment of a state that continues to be hijacked by a parasitic elite class that treats public service as a license to steal.
Jammeh stole over $362 million from the people. That’s not a statistic, it’s stolen schools, stolen hospitals, stolen opportunities, and stolen futures. Yet even in exile, the stain of his regime lingers. Assets seized on behalf of the people were allegedly sold under the table, at slashed prices, to friends, family, and insiders. Only $23.7 million has been recovered. Where is the rest? Who bought what? How much did they pay? Why the secrecy?
This isn’t just about Jammeh anymore. This is about systemic, institutionalised, bloodsucking corruption, where a few powerful individuals collude to bleed a poor country dry while the majority are left to hustle for bread in the scorching sun.
A permanent State of plunder
Gambia has become a textbook case of captured democracy. Power doesn’t serve the people, it serves itself. A clique of politicians, top civil servants, and well-connected businessmen have mastered the art of legal theft. From overpriced government contracts to shady land deals and now the questionable sale of national assets, the message is clear: the system works for them, not for us. It is the case of a state capture!
It’s a mafia state with a ballot box. Elections may change faces, but the corruption machinery remains intact; Whether it’s wheeled by the State House, ministries, the Attorney General’s Office, Lawyers, businessmen and women or even the justice system. who watches those tasked with oversight when the entire system is compromised?
This toxic culture has crippled development. It’s the reason why we remain trapped in a permanent state of underdevelopment and chronic poverty, despite our immense potential. It’s why our young people flee across deserts and drown in the Mediterranean Sea. It’s why patients die in hospitals with no medicine or oxygen. It’s why we have one of the highest youth unemployment rates and our people resort to begging in the streets, and our farmers suffer without support.
And yet, when a group of young patriots—Gambians Against Looted Assets (GALA)—peacefully took to the streets to demand accountability, the state’s response was swift and brutal: arresting and silencing them. For what? For loving their country enough to demand that thieves be named and shamed? Their protest is not criminal, it is constitutional. It is a badge of national honour. To jail these youth while shielding looters is the very definition of state capture and moral bankruptcy.
The era of impunity must end now
Let this be crystal clear: no one is above the law. Not even the president. Not the Attorney General. Not a single minister, director, civil servant, or businessman. The people are watching, and history is recording. Every dalasi misappropriated is a crime against the people. Every corrupt deal is a nail in the coffin of national progress. And from now on, every stone will be turned, and every thief exposed.
It is time to draw a red line:
· Every official involved in the sale of Jammeh’s assets must immediately publish the names of buyers, sale amounts, and all related documentation.
· Parliament must not only investigate but recommend prosecution where there’s wrongdoing.
· The judiciary must wake up and act independently and swiftly.
· Civil society must double its vigilance.
· And the public must remain alert and angry, because our silence is their license.
No more compromises. No more excuses
We must now declare war not just against the corrupt, but against the culture of corruption itself. A revolution of conscience must sweep across The Gambia. From the smallest police bribe to the biggest ministerial theft, all corruption is treason against the nation.
And for those in power who think this storm will pass: it won’t. The people are awake. And the time of impunity is over.
The Gambia does not belong to thieves. It belongs to the people. And we will not rest until justice is done.
