By Omar Bah
Reacting to APRC’s threats that they are going to take legal actions against him if he fails to prove his allegations of corruption against them, GMC leader Mai Fatty said he firmly stands by his claims that the party illegally benefited directly and indirectly from millions of taxpayer funds.
The former Interior minister told The Standard yesterday: “I stand fully behind my statement that based on audit reports, the APRC illegally benefited directly and indirectly from millions of taxpayer funds throughout its 2 decades of existence.”
“There is evidence that 22 million Dalasis of public funds was transferred to APRC Mobilisation Account Number at Guaranty Trust Bank. These are monies belonging to Gambians that were unlawfully transferred through the Accountant General’s Department on the orders of Yahya Jammeh to finance APRC. These illegal funds that APRC unlawfully benefited from, should be recovered by the Government and returned to the public treasury. I maintain this position and call on the government to recover these funds without delay,” he said.
Fatty said there are more revelations in the audit report and as soon as he is ready with a forensic evaluation of the entire report, he will produce more results for the APRC to refund the state.
On APRC’s threat of a legal action against him, Mai challenged the party to sue him without delay.
“I urge them not to delay this matter, and to do so with utmost agency. I am absolutely confident that this would be a very costly decision they would regret. It will lead to their declaration of bankruptcy and their eventual elimination from the political process for good. I am eagerly waiting for their suit, and I hope the APRC will not chicken out on this threat. Gambians should know that this is an empty threat the APRC dare not implement,” he added.
The former presidential adviser said the best way out for APRC is to apologise to Gambians and rehabilitate their ways.
“They should convince us that there is a new leadership that will rebrand and reform the party, and inject credibility and integrity in their political methodology. The APRC needs a break with their past, instead of digging deeper into the trenches of crime and recalcitrance,” he added.
Fatty further argued that his only interest is the recovery of public funds as far as the APRC continues to demand the return of assets from Gambians they don’t own.
He said the party must stop making unreasonable demands of monies and assets from Gambians that they acquired illegally from public funds.
“I want to clarify that I have nothing personal against the APRC. I would have no aversion to sitting down with the new APRC leadership at a table of fraternity to amicably discuss national issues and the way forward. APRC supporters are Gambians and I will always defend their individual rights as citizens. I have no issues against APRC supporters as private citizens and I do not hold them responsible. The issues I raised are directed at APRC as an institution. Gambians expect the party to address those issues and not to take them personally,” he concluded.
