By Arret Jatta
Former Attorney General Abubacarr M Tambadou yesterday made his much- anticipated appearance before the National Assembly committee investigating the sale and disposal of former president Jammeh’s assets.
The former minister, who was instrumental in the establishment of the Janneh Commission of Enquiry and the subsequent handling of issues connected to its work, began by emphasising the importance of setting the record straight amidst what he described as misinformation surrounding the sales.
While acknowledging the possibility of flaws in the process, he confidently stated that the committee would not find evidence of improper conduct or unlawful behaviour driven by personal motives.
“Any process that involves a lot of people with many various activities, certainly will have flaws but I can guarantee that if you are looking for evidence of improper conduct or unlawful behaviour, or indeed wrongdoing based on personal motives, you will not find that,” he asserted.
He also assured the committee that his testimony would provide clarifications and insights to clear the air for the public.
Tambadou said there was political pressure on the new government to address the assets of the former president with the public frustrated at seeing businesses and assets associated with Jammeh operating as usual. This, he said, led to the government’s decision to take action.
He revealed that discussions and decisions were made within the cabinet, including the idea of freezing the former president’s assets.
”I was instructed by cabinet to freeze the assets, with the method left to my discretion. That decision was made in cabinet, through a cabinet resolution,” he said.
The former attorney general revealed that he initially faced challenges in gathering the necessary evidence. “I wanted, in particular, the ministry of finance to provide me with evidence that I could use to go to court and that was not forthcoming as quickly as I would have liked.”
He recounted receiving crucial information from the late Secretary General, Dawda Fadera, which included a report from the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU ) which contained bank accounts and transactions listed. This, he added, provided the “smoking gun” needed.
Mr Tambadou admitted that freezing the asset was not his primary focus as his ministry was “focusing on more fundamental issues of governance.”
He acknowledged though that the government faced pressure to act on the assets due to public perception and reports of asset dissipation, such as cattle being stolen and vehicles being discovered in Casamance.
“All the assets were frozen due to a lack of resources for a more targeted approach. The FIU provided bank account information, while the Ministry of Lands provided a list of properties, and the late Secretary General Fadera consulted me on vehicles found at State House,” he said.
On how they identified the assets that were frozen in the first place, Mr Tambadou explained that while FIU provided them with the bank accounts, the situation with motor vehicles found at State House was more nuanced. “I think, as in all authoritarian systems, there is a thin line between the head of that authoritarian system and the state. And so, it’s difficult to draw the line between what was personal and what was national,” he said.
He revealed that any vehicle found on state property are presumed to belong to the state until the contrary is proved, and if anybody has a claim over those vehicles, it’s up to them to come and state that claim.
“But the default position for the government is to make the assumption that they are state property, and so, the finance ministry and the government could do what they wanted with those vehicles because, as far as I was concerned, they were found on state property, they belong to the state. So, these are the three categories of assets I believe that we discussed at that time-the landed properties, the cattle and vehicles,” he told the enquiry.
