By Tabora Bojang
Former justice minister Abubacarr Tambadou on Friday apologised to the parliamentary panel investigating the sale of former president Jammeh’s assets, following a heated clash with panelist Omar Jammeh, the NAM for Janjanbureh who inquired about his alleged involvement in the allocation of a TDA land to one Binta Ceesay.
The woman is believed to be a former estate agent and now Tambadou’s wife.
Asked by Hon Jammeh why he intervened in Binta Ceesay’s application with the Gambia Tourism Board for an allocation of land in the Senegambia area Tambadou replied that he was following up on her behalf because she wanted to know what the state of her application was. “When I was AG, many people including members of this National Assembly came to me to intervene on their behalf on many issues. So I see nothing wrong. It is not a crime. It is not forbidden to find out the state of application by someone who at the time was acting as my estate agent,” Tambadou stated.
Asked if his action had not influenced the application process since he was a state minister acting on behalf of someone who was in charge of his personal properties, Tambadou said it was not in any way a conflict of interest, insisting he had done the same for many other people.
But Hon Jammeh insisted the former minister’s actions were in conflict with his portfolio as minister since Binta Ceesay was close to him.
Tambadou who was visibly infuriated, responded: “Hon, I have been very respectful to all of you and I would want you to reciprocate the same to me. Your words that she [Binta] was very close to me were unnecessary. You may choose to believe whatever you want to believe. I do not care a dime as to what you believe but I am telling you the facts. She was managing my properties. She applied for land in the Tourism Development Area. She informed me. This is Gambia. People ask for favours. She wanted me to find out the state of her application process and I willingly did that. I only inquired but my inquiry was not even with the GT Board,” Tambadou said.
Hon Jammeh followed up and asked him to state the name of the institution he inquired from but the former minister did not give a specific name, and went on to clarify that Binta does not currently possess any land allocated to her by the government because the land that was allocated to her was taken back.
“So I don’t understand what point you are driving at. What is your objective here? Tambadou asked NAM Jammeh who remained defiant, submitting that Binta was working for Tambadou as an estate agent and having him making inquiries on her behalf as a minister is “fishy.”
But Tambadou maintained that Hon Jammeh can believe what he wants to believe. “Do you think it is against the law to inquire about a process? ” he asked NAM Jammeh who responded that he was not there to answer questions but to ask. He charged that Tambadou’s actions were “totally unethical” because he was intervening as a minister on behalf of someone he worked with who applied for state land.
As the argument grew tense, panel chairman Abdoulie Ceesay intervened and called for calm.
He told Mr Tambadou that he was surprised to hear him make certain “undesirable” responses to Hon Jammeh’s questions that should not be uttered before the panel and asked him to withdraw.
Tambadou agreed, saying he should not have allowed his emotions to get better of him. “We are here for truth seeking, not about individual personalities. And for the member to raise issues about ethics, he has no ideas about what was not right. I will not be disrespected because there is an audience watching on Facebook. So out of respect for this house, I offer my sincere apologies for words I may have said which did not accord with parliamentary decorum,” he said.
