Africa-Press – Gambia. Honorable Modou Lamin B. Bah, the National Assembly Member for Banjul North, has urged the government to uphold good governance and accountability, warning that public protests are a natural consequence of continued misconduct.
Speaking during an extraordinary session of the National Assembly—convened to deliberate on a motion to establish a special select committee to investigate the sale and disposal of former President Yahya Jammeh’s assets—Hon. Bah emphasized that protests often arise when citizens perceive systemic wrongdoing.
“Honorable Speaker, the truth is, if the government doesn’t want any protest, let them stop doing wrong things in this country, and that is the fact; let them stop,” he said.
Hon. Bah also underscored the importance of integrity within the legislature, stressing that credibility is essential to the Assembly’s effectiveness and moral authority.
“You lose your health; of course you lose something, but if you lose your integrity, you lose everything; we cannot afford to lose our integrity as parliament,” he said.
Supporting the motion to create a committee to probe the management of Jammeh’s assets, Hon. Bah advocated for the inclusion of “unidentified assets” in the investigation’s scope and called for clear terms of reference and a structured framework for the committee’s operations. Stating, “I would want to look at the unidentified assets; this needs to be included as part of the motion; the issue of the committee also should be included.”
He proposed a strict timeline, recommending that the committee complete its work within 180 days and submit a clear, detailed, and accessible report.
“We are not compromising this one; let them do the needful within 180 days and see that they produce a very comprehensive report whereby we can be able to read and understand and not read to become confused,” he said.
Additionally, Hon. Bah urged that any adverse findings be referred to law enforcement and that implicated individuals within the public service be placed on administrative leave pending investigations.
“I will also join other members in terms of submitting findings to the police that they should act immediately and also that people that are within the system should be sent to administrative leave,” he said.
He concluded with a broader appeal to his fellow parliamentarians, warning against superficial solutions.
“I would want the parliament to know that as long as we manage problems in this country, problems in this country, we will never solve them, and now is the time, we must all come together and make sure that we solve the problem of this country. No compromise in terms of making sure they are exposed to the public in terms of what you will be doing,” he said.
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