The National Assembly Member for Wuli East, Hon. Suwaibou Touray, has expressed concern about the extent of corruption in The Gambia, saying that corrupt activities cost the country over D1.5 billion a year. He said this at the National Assembly’s discussion of the Public Enterprises Committee’s (PEC) and the Finance and Public Accounts Committee’s (FPAC) joint report.
The fabric of this civilization is being eaten by corruption, Honorable Speaker. According to estimates, corruption wastes 1.5 billion dollars,” he stated.
He cited the petroleum industry scam report from the National Assembly, which he claimed exposed several anomalies and structural flaws.
“This report is full of anomalies, and those anomalies include mismanagement, favoritism, and all those things,” he said.
Touray went on to say that the research found that many petroleum businesses were not following tax laws. “So, in my opinion, Honorable Speaker, for instance, when you state that 2023 returns are still pending, none of the companies had filed the necessary tax returns or paid any taxes in compliance with the Income and Value Added Tax Act 2012 and other pertinent laws at the time of the committee’s investigation,” he clarified.
He drew attention to disparities in company registration, pointing out that Apogee FZC is not registered in The Gambia, although Creed Energy is. He asked the government to make building a national petroleum testing laboratory a top priority.
“The government ought to think about starting a nationwide petroleum testing program right away. We need a testing laboratory, Honorable Speaker, since untested oil is being brought into the nation and damaging all of the Gambian people’s engines. Therefore, in order to enforce minimal capital, we must modify the petroleum licensing requirements and install that testing machine engine.
“Touray said.” The lawmaker from Wuli East also denounced what he called excessive partiality in the formulation of policies.
“Throughout this process, you have consistently proposed new policies, but they are not being approved by the cabinet,” he added.
Touray claimed that illegal financial incentives frequently drive such behavior. “That is not done for nothing in and of itself. “The committee is saying that it needs to be properly investigated while they are coming up with policies on the sidelines, and then it is not approved by the cabinet,” he said, referring to the brown papers that are typically going under the table for those kinds of reasons.
In his closing remarks, he emphasized the necessity of more thorough and open regulation of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). “I think that the area that deals with OMC is not fully investigated before implementing any policy change because, as I mentioned, no abrupt policies will come on a continuous basis without any reason,” Touray continued.
