Africa-Press – Gambia. The Minister of Health, Dr. Ahmadou Lamin Samateh, has dismissed allegations of rampant corruption in The Gambia, asserting that the Barrow administration has delivered more development than any previous government.
Speaking in an interview with West Coast Radio, Dr. Samateh said:
“I don’t think there is rampant corruption. You see, if there were rampant corruption in the Ministry of Health or in this country, we wouldn’t have been able to do the development that we are doing now. We are doing more development now than the former regime—a lot more,” he said.
He further noted that the government has strengthened accountability mechanisms by empowering auditors to scrutinize public accounts and guide actions against corruption.
“You see, the auditors are part of the government; the government has made work easy for them to look into the accounts of the government and guide the government in dealing with corruption. I think the government should be applauded for that,” Dr. Samateh stated.
Responding to recent reports of shortages in health facilities and claims that patients are being asked to purchase their own gloves, Dr. Samateh suggested that some of these reports are politically motivated. He urged the public to report such incidents properly, assuring that any verified misconduct would be addressed.
“Whoever would have told that person to go and buy gloves might himself or herself be doing it to annoy the patient and, you know, to arouse sentiments. He succeeded in doing that, so we expect to see those, but what I urge him to do and other people to do is if anyone tells them what is out of line, let them report and mention the person’s name and let them be ready to serve as a witness because we will deal with the issue very seriously,” he said.
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