By Arret Jatta
The governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Buah Saidy, has lashed out at journalists, accusing them of spreading “nonsense” and manufacturing stories to tarnish the reputation of the institution.
Speaking at a Monetary Policy Committee press briefing at the Central Bank headquarters in Banjul yesterday, Governor Saidy was responding to questions about a staff member, Lamin Marong, who was intercepted by police with over US$57,000 and over D290,000 in old currency.
When asked if Marong was still working with the bank and what measures had been introduced to prevent such incidents, Governor Saidy defended his staff, saying Marong was a private citizen and a Gambian, and that the money in question belonged to his father, a marabout.
“First of all, Lamin Marong is a private citizen, is a Gambian citizen. When he was caught with those monies, it was not official working time. He already closed from work and he was on his private business,” Governor Saidy said.
The governor questioned the media’s role in reporting on the incident, saying they had manufactured stories and failed to retract false claims.
“Just like the D155 million when this gentleman, Abdou was the director of currency department, was manufactured and they claimed that D155 million was taken, if you see the bags to carry D150 million, it will be in trucks, not even pickup. It will be in trucks,” he said.
Governor Saidy said the bank’s vaults were regularly audited and that no money was missing.
“At the Central Bank of The Gambia, audits are conducted by our internal audit department. In addition, there is a board of survey which examines the vault where these currencies are kept, both dalasi and the foreign currency,” he said.
He warned that the credibility of the bank was at stake and that he would not tolerate attacks on the institution.
“You have only one central bank. If it goes down, the whole country goes down with it. Since I’ve become governor, I’ve been complying with all the laws here. I’m the most transparent governor here,” he said.
“I have been telling Gambians, if you don’t want Governor Buah Saidy to be your governor, kick me out. If I am not doing anything right in this bank, kick me out. I have my principles, if I am not doing anything right, you discover any misappropriation of funds or not complying with the law, kick me out. I’m not desperate. I have my pension from the IMF, I have other investments,” he said.
