Africa-Press – Gambia. Samba Jallow, the National Assembly Member for Niamina Dankunku, has made serious allegations implicating the General Manager of Gam Petroleum in a high-profile corruption scandal involving bribes from a foreign oil importer.
Speaking during a debate on the findings of a joint report by the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) and the Public Enterprises Committee (PEC), Hon. Jallow claimed that Yoro Jallow, the General Manager of Gam Petroleum, received monthly payments of D600,000 from a Russian-linked oil importer, Apogee Enterprises. The report under discussion details alleged acts of corruption, bribery, tax evasion, and money laundering related to the sale of 36,935 metric tonnes of petroleum products valued at over $30 million.
Hon. Jallow told the Assembly that he had a private conversation with an individual he described as the “mastermind” behind the scandal—an unnamed key witness who allegedly disclosed the details of the payments. According to Jallow, the individual informed him that the illicit transfers to the Gam Petroleum General Manager could be traced through account activity at Access Bank.
“The witness sat here for two hours waiting for us. We could not connect to him because he was the mastermind of all this thing. I had a private chat with him. He told me that the D600,000 was received by Gam Petroleum General Manager. He told me, “If you go to access the bank account, you will see the first withdrawal,” Jallow stated.
He further argued that if Dr. Banja could be investigated, prosecuted, and imprisoned over an audio leak, then—if justice is to be applied equally—those implicated in this matter must also be investigated and held accountable, including imprisonment if found guilty.
The member added that all the necessary evidence is contained in the report, which, he said, clearly points to abuse of office—a form of corrupt practice.
“And corruption and bribery are all the same, and we have seen it happen in this country, My Honourable Colleagues, there is nobody in this country who did not know what has happened. Let us not forget that this was in the hands of the population before it came to the National Assembly,” he said.
Jallow also called for legal reforms to address the gravity of corruption, arguing that while the loss of one life is tragic, corrupt practices inflict far greater damage by harming the entire nation.
“But when you do a corrupt practice, you kill a whole nation. We are here compromising certain things. Who will not see any corruption in this activity? Where a minister calls a counterpart minister, an investigation is halted. Is that not an abuse of office? Where an office is abused, is that not corruption? My friends, this is common sense,” he concluded.
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