By Tabora Bojang
Former vice president Ousainu Darboe has clarified that he had no hand in the appointment of Abubacarr Tambadou as justice minister in 2017.
Tambadou has recently been under fire in the wake of the publication of an investigative report by The Republic on the sale of former president Yahya Jammeh’s assets.
Tambadou has denied any wrongdoing but his explanations have not wound down the barrage of criticisms against him.
Rights groups Edward Francis Small Centre of Rights and Justice has withdrawn its endorsement of Tambadou’s nomination for judgeship at the International Court of Justice and there have been calls for the government and the opposition UDP to follow suit.
Critics have lashed out at the UDP and its leader Ousainu Darboe for his perceived influential role in the appointment of Tambadou as minister of Justice in 2017.
But addressing the matter for the first time since The Republic’s revelation, Darboe who served under the Barrow government as Foreign Affairs minister and vice president between February 2017 to March 2019 told online TV Mengbekering Wednesday evening that the only persons he recommended to Barrow for ministerial appointments before the formation of the first cabinet in 2017 were Baboucarr Bouy, Adelaide Sosseh, Alkali Conteh, and Bintou Suso with Ebrima Sillah as director of press and public relations at the Office of the President. He said Barrow did not heed his recommendations.
Mr Darboe said he met Tambadou in Barrow’s office and Barrow told him Tambadou was assisting him with protocol work at his office and that he had also decided to appoint him as minister of justice.
He said because of that Barrow could not appoint himself or Mai Fatty as justice minister. “It was there that he [Barrow] informed me he was going to appoint Mai Fatty to the Ministry of Interior and also appoint me as his vice president. I told him I am not qualified to occupy the position of a vice president. He asked why and I told him it was because of my age. After I said that I could sense the worry in his face, I don’t know how genuine he was but he asked me where do you want me to appoint you. I told him to look around but thought the Foreign Ministry would be fine,” Darboe explained, adding that this was how he came to be appointed as the first Foreign Minister under the Barrow government.
He said apart from the aforementioned persons he recommended, he was never consulted on the appointment of ministers like Tambadou, Bai Lamin Jobe, Claudiana Cole and Saffie Lowe-Ceesay. “He never consulted me on any of these appointments. So people saying Barrow made certain appointments because of us are not in line with reality. In fact Baboucarr Bouy who was considered as a great and professional civil servant was only appointed as minister after the 2021 elections. So what influence do I have over Barrow’s appointments? Darboe queried.
The UDP leader also insisted he has no hands in the appointment of commissioners and other staff at the Janneh Commission adding that with the exception of Commission chairman Sourahata Janneh he did not personally know any of these members appointed.
He added that he did not have any knowledge about the sale of the Jammeh assets. Mr Darboe recalled that he was part of a cabinet meeting on the issue of defreezing some assets of the Jammeh properties adding that he made a suggestion for the government to instead exercise its rights to re-entry instead of defreezing the assets. “My position was that even when you unfreeze the assets, it will still be under Jammeh’s name and if there was no forfeiture you cannot use those assets. For me that was the shortest lawful route but my suggestion was not accepted at the time.”
Darboe said during his time in cabinet he did not discuss any major issues with President Barrow apart from issues discussed at cabinet level. “Since I was released from prison and appointed in government Barrow sidelined me and did not consult me on any major issue until I was removed,” Darboe asserted.
