By Abdoulie John
All eyes are set on The Gambia’s Attorney General and Justice Minister whose office is expected to issue a legal advice to President Adama Barrow over the ‘poisonous’ fertilizer reportedly sold to Senegalese businessmen by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture. This is undoubtedly a litmus test for a government that wants to get to the root of official corruption, embezzlement and mismanagement of public funds.
The fertilizer story is currently dominating national discourse as well as attracting newspaper headlines, forcing the State House Press Director Amie Bojang-Sissoho to invite journalists for a press conference on Wednesday. Mrs. Bojang-Sissoho said President Barrow has already been informed about the investigation into what has appeared to be a major scandal of the Coalition administration.
Mrs. Bojang-Sissoho felt it necessary to give journalists a snippet of the scandal on Wednesday. She said President Barrow is waiting for legal advice from the Justice Minister.
The news of the scandal surrounding the expired fertilizer was first published by kerr-fatou.com on on Tuesday. The website put the Ministry of Agriculture under the spotlight, accusing its officials of smuggling truck loads of expired fertilisers for financial gains. Kerr-Fatou’s investigation revealed that the smuggled fertilisers were part of 9,500 tons acquired by The Gambia in 2009.
Despite calls for immediate swift action to be taken against those involved in the latest scandal have been rife, Mrs. Bojang-Sissoho reiterated President Barrow’s commitment not to interfere with the functions of judiciary. She wanted people to exercise patience until the Justice Ministry completes reviewing of the investigation report. President Barrow, Press Director added, will wait for the report before taking any decision.
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