Africa-Press – Gambia. The Public Service Commission (PSC) has found Sutay Jawo, the director of youths and sport responsible for the missing 12,500 euros equivalent to D937,500 from imprests given to him for the payment of players and technical staff of the Gambia National team during their training camp in Saudi Arabia to prepare for the last African Nations Cup (Afcon).
Finance Minister Seedy Keita made this revelation at a government press conference Friday.
He said Mr Jawo has repaid the missing amount and has been demoted from his position.
Minister Keita disclosed the particulars of the case: “The Gambia qualified to Afcon 2023 which was played in Ivory Coast. A training camp was organised in Saudi Arabia from 1st to 9th January 2024 and Sutay Jawo was identified as the imprest holder for the payment of players and the technical team. He was given an imprest of D14,550,000 equivalent to €194,000. Upon return of the delegation, Mr Jawo submitted a report to the Ministry stating that the entire (D14,550,000) has been retired. He claimed that the remaining funds were used for transit, hotel, food and beverages. However, the players later informed the Ministry of Youths and Sport that they did not receive any refreshments during the six to seven hours transit at the airport in Morocco. When the permanent secretary requested an explanation and a detailed expenditure report with supporting documents, Mr Jawo claimed to have returned the funds to the Afcon sub-committee but the committee chairman confirmed that there was an outstanding amount of €12,500 equivalent to D937,500. Against this background, the PSC conducted an investigation into the matter and the conclusion of the investigation revealed that Sutay Jawo had accepted and took responsibility for the missing D937,500. And in the light of his admission of guilt, the PSC demoted him while requiring him to return the entire unretired imprest,” Minister Keita explained.
According to him, Mr Jawo has since completed the payment and the PSC is awaiting the confirmation of full payment from the National Sports Council.
During the question-and-answer session, a number of journalists asked why Mr Jawo was not dismissed like other officials implicated in corruption or misconduct like immigration officer Bakary Njie and forestry official Lamin Bajo.
In response, Chief of staff Mod K Ceesay argued that the cases are different. “There are those that are outright theft from the planning, the execution and even when confronted with the facts there was denial. In the case of Mr Jawo, he claimed the money was used during transit but the players said they were not given any such thing. So as far as the commission is concerned it was a lie that he used the money as he claimed. But this was an imprest and so he has not planned to steal. It was legitimate money given for a specific purpose… The recommendation of the PSC was for him to return the money and next step they recommended for demotion and that was done. The primary objective of the government was to recover the money and that was done.”
Information Minister Dr Ismaila Ceesay rejected the suggestion that the government is playing selective justice, arguing: “Every case is unique, every case you look at the circumstances and you weigh the circumstances in terms of intent and so forth. So, you don’t just look at the amount of money. Even if you go to the criminal justice system, two people will commit the same crime but they will free one and convict the other.”
Source: The Standard Newspaper | Gambia
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