By Lamin Cham
Fatou Ceesay, a board member of the First Lady Fatoumata Bah-Barrow Foundation, has confirmed that the Foundation is aware of the widely reported news of a purported transfer of some D33million dalasi into its account but they are yet to establish the circumstances that led to it.
Throughout last week, Gambian online bloggers and some websites have reported that some D33milion worth in USD dollars have been transferred to the Foundation’s account with many asking for the source or some explanation from the Foundation and or government .
According to some reports, the $752,544.42 bank transfer supposedly originated from a Hong Kong bank through the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and channeled through Guaranty Trust Bank (UK), then to Novo Banko in Lisbon before ending up in the account of the Fatoumatta B. Barrow Foundation at Guaranty Trust Bank in Banjul.
However speaking to The Standard yesterday, Madame Ceesay said an internal enquiry has been put in place to look into the matter.
“Currently we have set up a panel of investigators from the board members to investigate the sources of the money and how it got to the Foundation and once that is done, we would know what happened and if there is need we will explain,” she said.
Madame Ceesay said people must understand that the Foundation is not a public entity and as such it is not funded by government or state resources and is therefore not obliged or mandated to report to the public about its activities.
“It is purely a private humanitarian initiative,” she concluded.
