The controversy surrounding the removal by force the Auditor General, Modou Ceesay from his office by the Police Intervention Unit after he rejected his appointment as cabinet minister, leaves quite a lot of questions with regard to the government’s commitment to adhering to the rule of law.
According to the National Audit Office Act, 2015, there is a legal process that needs to be followed before the President can remove the Auditor General, which appears not to have been followed in this particular case. While on the surface, one can tend to agree with the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay when he said that President Barrow appreciated Modou Ceesay’s public service experience, hence his decision to “elevate” him to the position of a cabinet minister. However, there is also the possibility that President Barrow was not quite comfortable with Modou Ceesay’s vigorous scrutiny of government accounts and he wanted him removed from the position in order to get someone more sympathetic to his government.
Of course, while the President needs to go through an elaborate legal process to remove the Auditor General, he can easily remove a cabinet minister without advancing any reason for his actions. Therefore, it is possible that “elevating” Modou Ceesay to a cabinet position was merely a prelude to his sacking.
Assuming that Modou Ceesay verbally accepted the appointment when he met President Barrow at State House, according to Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, which Modou Ceesay has denied, but does that legally tantamount to acceptance of the appointment? Certainly, government should much more formal than that.
We all had assumed that President Barrow learnt a lesson or two from a similar encounter he had with the former Governor of the Central Bank, Bakary Jammeh, whose appointment as Minister of Trade in September 2020 was announced only for him to reject it. Therefore, rather than assume that everyone is eager to become a cabinet minister, and to avoid a repetition of such embarrassing situations, President Barrow should first obtain formal acceptance before making an announcement of his appointments.
Indeed, every Gambian concerned about justice and fair play is anxiously watching this space to see what would become of the situation. Is it going to go the Bakary Jammeh way and completely disappear from the public radar, or would there be a legal battle to be mounted with the “UDP flag bearer aspirant, Lawyer Lamin J. Darboe” (quoting Dr. Ceesay), representing Modou Ceesay in court?
Whatever the case may be, however, there are bound to be repercussions. If President Barrow and his regime get away with this apparent unlawful interference with the Auditor General’s office, then our few credible public institutions would be at risk of operating at the whims and caprices of the executive, thus giving impetus for the rampant corruption and nepotism to continue to thrive. It is also possible that our international partners and donors are keenly watching the situation and its outcome could have an influence on their perception and future dealings with the government.
Therefore, President Barrow and his government need to handle this matter with utmost caution, lest it costs them a lot of trust and credibility.
By Demba Ali Jawo
