By Alagie Manneh
Gambian tycoon and businessman Prince Ebrahim Sanyang said his net worth is bigger than any Gambian and that he is richer than even the state.
Speaking in a Standard Bantaba where he addressed accusations of cyber credit fraud and ‘419’, frozen assets and “injustices” he is being put through by the Justice ministry, the Kiang Batteling Prince said if he does not give to The Gambia, the country cannot give to him.
“It is something that will continue to grow,” he said of his total net worth. “As far as The Gambia is concerned, there is no… I have not seen a Gambian that has the same financial leveraging capability that I have. There isn’t. I have more money than even the state.
One of my projects alone, in Ghana, I have a 3000-acre deal in Ghana, and our intention is to pump in 1.7 billion dollars in that property. This property here I am telling you, we have a deal to build 15,000 homes in just one part of the land, at 40,000 dollars per property, in a very small portion of that 3,000 acres that we are working on, that’s over 900 million dollars revenue. And if you add that to the other 900 million of let’s say seven aircraft, you now hit over 2 billion isn’t it?
Responding to critics who accused him of credit card fraud including 419 schemes, Prince said that is “laughable.”
“In any case, these people would go to any length to taint people’s image. I think the biggest problem all the time was, I have never been a media-savvy person. I have never allowed these kinds of interviews for people to know the true person I was. 419? That is mythical. Where is the evidence? Whose money did I take? Once a Gambian blogger wrote ‘oh, he is wanted by the West Midlands Police.’
“I think I should be the one that should be wary of 419ers. I am talking about billions here, and you are talking about child’s play.
Prince also accused the justice minister and Janneh Commission, who closed his companies, of “corruption,” and vowed that “heads will roll.”
“As I have said before, the allegations in itself was false in its entirety. It’s ‘unsubstantiated’, I will borrow the phrase of the minister.
“He was the so-called evangelist of human rights-turned human…Because in any case before you accuse somebody, you ought to investigate them. Why wasn’t I investigated? I was tarnished on newspapers saying that I am a close associate of President Jammeh. To date, they cannot bring a single nexus between me and the former president. The worst thing about it is this; they even went and close my office down.”
Read next page for the full interview.
