by Ba Tambedou
Africa-Press – Gambia. Who tuned in to the morning caffeine-fueled confession booth known as Coffee Time with Peter Gomez on Friday, May 9, 2025? If you did, you may have caught a rather belated performance from none other than Abubacarr Ba Tambadou—yes, the former Justice Minister who once styled himself as the incorruptible paladin of post-Jammeh Gambia.
Beaming in live via WhatsApp from his American sanctuary—perhaps somewhere between Starbucks and an Ivy League seminar—Mr. Tambadou broke what must’ve been a long and comfortable silence to defend his legacy. For over an hour, he tried, valiantly if not convincingly, to swat away the firestorm ignited by The Republic newspaper’s explosive allegations: that the Janneh Commission—his brainchild—mismanaged, manipulated, and possibly monetized Jammeh’s ill-gotten booty with less transparency than a smoked-glass mosque window.
But alas, instead of quenching public suspicion, Tambadou’s verbal juggling act left listeners—including this writer—scratching their heads and reaching for a second cup of stronger coffee.
Let’s start with the juiciest cut of meat in this pepper soup: the Tourism Development Area (TDA). This coastal goldmine, stretching from Batokunku to Palma Rima, has long been eyed by both the saints and the scoundrels. The Republic alleges that Tambadou personally unlocked portions of this treasure chest while the Janneh Commission was still mid-autopsy. Tambadou, for his part, admits that everything was frozen in 2017—but insists an “emergency” arose that justified thawing some chunks for a band of mysterious “FDI investors” to build a hotel for the OIC summit.
FDI? Foreign Direct Investment? Friends Doing Improvisation? Nobody knows. When pressed, Tambadou offered only that they were kind enough to sponsor Steve Biko FC. How touching. Nothing says national development like a football team jersey.
But why did these phantom investors get red-carpet treatment with no details about their identities, their qualifications, or even their legal standing? Tambadou’s explanation had more holes than a fishing net in Barra.
Even more eyebrow-raising was Tambadou’s legal gymnastics. When Justice Amina Saho refused to bless his unfreezing scheme, did he pause? Reflect? Consult the National Assembly? Of course not! He simply waited for the court’s ceremonial closure and waltzed over to Justice Jaiteh—who conveniently said yes.
If that doesn’t sound like shopping for a favorable ruling, then I’m the Queen of England.
When grilled by Gomez on whether the TDA land was legally under Jammeh’s name, Tambadou flatly denied it. But every Gambian knows that under Jammeh’s iron grip, nothing moved without stamps, seals, and signatures more ornate than a royal decree. The question then becomes: if it wasn’t legally acquired by Jammeh, who processed it? And if someone else illegally processed it, shouldn’t they now be explaining themselves to the public—or to a judge?
Gomez, sadly, missed a golden opportunity to hammer this point home. Perhaps the radio host was too polite, or maybe his coffee hadn’t kicked in yet.
Let’s not forget: it was Yahya Jammeh himself who secured The Gambia’s OIC Summit bid. Given that precedent, could it be that his so-called “personal” land hoarding in the TDA was actually part of a broader state development vision? After all, the AU Village—built for the 2006 summit—is still proudly serving its purpose.
Would today’s fraudulent land sharks dare sink their teeth into properties bearing the scent of national interest? Unlikely. Unless, of course, those lands were hastily unfrozen under mysterious “emergency” pretenses.
And now we arrive at Alpha Barry, the man at the center of Tambadou’s most tangled knot. Barry’s firm, Alpha Kapital, replaced Augustus Prom’s company as the government’s asset receiver. Why? Because Tambadou wanted it according to the ‘Republic’.
What happened to AMRC—the long-standing public institution designed exactly for this purpose? Apparently, it was too… functional?
Even more eyebrow-raising is the story of Alpha Kapital’s enterprising saleswoman, who reportedly tried selling property for Tambadou’s family—and ended up marrying him after both exited the stage. Romantic? Perhaps. Convenient? Definitely.
Tambadou’s defense? Barry is a “highly competent chartered accountant.” Fair. But so was Prom. And the AMRC is no den of fools either. So why did familiarity earn Kurang a position at the Commission—but not disqualify Barry from receiving national assets? Yes, Kurang was merely the head boy at high school he admired; thus, he headhunted him for a seat at the Commission.
Ironically, the very man Tambadou once handpicked—Alagie Mamadi Kurang—turned out to be the Commission’s conscience. Kurang blew whistles louder than a referee at a World Cup final, highlighting conflicts of interest and pointing out that Bensouda, the Commission’s lead counsel, had previously repped Jammeh himself in certain shady deals. Was she involved in the TDA transactions too? We don’t know. And no one seems interested in finding out.
Kurang also protested the dubious sale of tractors and livestock—items meant for poor farmers but instead sold off in opaque deals to God-knows-who. Tambadou’s logic? “Well, bakeries and abattoirs couldn’t be frozen because people needed bread and meat.” But tractors? Pfft. Who needs food security anyway?
Tambadou claims the land disposal was approved by a ministerial committee and the Janneh Commission. Yet these bodies were packed with handpicked loyalists who could be fired faster than you can say “conflict of interest.” Real transparency would’ve meant taking such decisions to the National Assembly—the only body that dares open its blinds every once in a while. Instead, Cabinet deliberations remained as foggy as an early-morning ferry crossing at Banjul Port.
If Mr. Tambadou really wanted to make his case, he should’ve stuck to three things:
Swear innocence—and call for the immediate, unredacted release of the Janneh Commission report.
Demand full transparency from the government, whose current foot-dragging reeks of cover-up.
Urge clemency for frustrated youths now facing arrest for daring to ask the hard questions he so elegantly dodged.
Even opposition parties—once asleep at the wheel—are now jolting awake. UDP, GDC, and Sobayaa have all added their voices to the chorus demanding the Commission’s full findings be released.
Tambadou concluded his radio stint with the claim that only 44 out of 288 Jammeh properties were sold under his watch. Perhaps. But given the hurricane of questions left swirling in his wake, one can only wonder: what happened to the rest, and why does his silence over the past few years feel more deliberate than dignified?
Source: Kerr Fatou Online Media House
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