The government of the Gambia has dispelled what it referred to as fake news, denying signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Romanov Empire. The government’s reaction, published below verbatim, was exacerbated by a document that filled social media sites. Some Gambians, especially political opponents of the government, have already jumped the gun soon after the news broke. Instead of extracting chaff from the wind opponents used the issue as a political football and started throwing jibes at the barrow government.
Read a statement from the office of President detailing how the whole story of the fake news started.
The Gambia Government did not sign MOU with Romanov Empire
The Office of the President informs the general public that it has not signed any memorandum of understanding with Romanov Empire represented by Arch Chancellor Prince Anton Bakov also claims to be Prime Minister, Serene Highness of Romanov Empire.
Mr Anton Bakov has published a fake document as a memorandum of understanding with the government of The Gambia on the public radio of New Zealand – RNZ.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/345836/russian-empire-plans-shift-from-kiribati-to-the-gambia
This is a false and faked document.
Mr. Anton Bakov visited The Office of the President and expressed interest to invest in tourism. He presented a draft MOU dated 13th November 2017 for the government to consider. His proposal was for The Gambia to provide him with 10 square kilometers of land for him to develop an artificial island to be called Bitcity for an annual payment of $10 million for six years which would total to $60 million. Upon presentation of his investment proposal, Office of the President referred the matter to the Ministry of Justice for legal advice in a letter dated 15th November 2017.
The Solicitor General and Legal Secretary responded in a letter dated 28th November 2017 with a legal advice against the proposal. Its advice was based on the fact that:
• Roman Empire is not a real state
• Anton Bakov is seeking to re-create the Russian empire somewhere else in the world
• His desire is to purchase or lease land for personal purpose
• Romanov doesn’t have authority to enter into an international treaty because it does not have a permanent population, a defined territory, government and has no capacity to enter into relations with another state.
Furthermore, Mr. Bakov’s proposal has environmental and financial impact. It is not a legitimate project and should not be undertaken by The Gambia. Providing 300 years lease will bind the next ten generations of Gambians in negotiation with a non-existent state.
The published faked MOU is not on a letterhead and has falsified the signature of the Secretary General, Dawda D. Fadera as signatory on behalf of The Gambia and Modou Lamin Saidykhan signed on behalf of Romanov Empire as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In conclusion, the government did not enter into any memorandum of understanding with either Mr. Anton Bakov or Romanov Empire.
The Office of the President assures Gambians that while The Gambia government wants genuine investments in the country, it is aware of dubious individuals and companies who would want to exploit the New Gambia for scam projects. This will not be accepted and will always seek the best interest of The Gambia for any investment opportunity.
Ends