Sometime ago, the Government of the Gambia announced that a fifty million dollar loan from BADEA has been given to Jah Oil Company after they successfully satisfied all the requirements for said loan. The loan was intended to facilitate the import of food items into the country so as to ease the pressure of high prices in the market.
However, a huge controversy greeted the granting of this government-guaranteed loan facility to the said company. It was recently revealed by the Minister of Finance that the Jah Oil company has decided to return the loan and has said that it is no longer interested in the facility.
This follows intense criticism from some members of the public and good governance advocates and an even more intense scrutiny of the loan from the National Assembly. Some of the members raised concerns over the fact that the entire amount was given to one company.
A series of heated debates took place in the chambers of the National Assembly between the Minister of Finance and some members who wanted to know why and how the loan was given to just one company and how it was going to use it to ensure that the trickle effect reaches the ordinary citizens.
The Honourable Members questioned why such a major deal was not put out to a competitive tender instead of giving it to only one private company. There was a lot of pressure on the concerned minister to furnish the Assembly with detailed and concrete reasons for this.
Although the minister dismissed these criticisms at the time, explaining that the loan facility required a one-off nonrefundable payment of D48 million which only Jah Oil was willing to pay as well as honour other collateral and securities was the reason for it being awarded to the company.
What this shows is that when the National Assembly properly scrutinizes government work as required by the Constitution; and citizens speak up in matters of governance, the results will be excellent and that the country will soon see a tremendous transformation.
