Transparency International reveal corruption in Gambia and indicate the themes this year are democracy and corruption. It is hard for corruption to flourish in true democratic structures. When greed is the lay of the land and maximising profit without regulations and with impunity, then the people are vulnerable to victimisation, severe hardship and injustice.
Greed is a mental health issue that is akin to an addiction. It seeks to find pleasure outside through materialism, power over others and living in a world completely disconnected from repercussions. Greed is justified as ‘business’, the more included in webs of deception and implicated, the more likely the illegal behaviour continues. Perhaps people are put in a position where they must comply with those corrupt, secrets are kept and those benefiting feed off the power. They believe they need power to be happy. This is a false notion. Interestingly, when power is stripped they typically lose vitality, energy and often become sick. Thus the power was not real power, it was a façade and often others are harmed in these scenarios, as when one takes from the public purse poverty grows and the money does not go where it is needed most. The lack of empathy is why people can do this without a backward glance, there will be stories to justify why the people are worth-less, yet in truth a lack of integrity is the greatest poverty. This is why when caught they become a shadow of what they were.
| How do you steal an entire country? Just ask former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh.
Articles published this week by our partners at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) show how Jammeh and his cronies looted almost US$1 billion of state assets – equivalent to one year of GDP and twice The Gambia’s external debt.
A leak of thousands of documents revealed how during his 22-year rule, Jammeh allegedly raided the state pension fund for his own benefit, used the central bank as his private checking account, collaborated with terrorist financiers to launder millions and undervalue state assets, and stole millions in foreign aid.
Jammeh’s reign appears to be a textbook example of grand corruption at its most extreme. The now sadly familiar pattern included the predictable involvement of Western enablers who facilitated Jammeh’s theft of public monies in and out of The Gambia, while he violently oppressed his people and destroyed the country’s economy.
So, what can be done?
Our French chapter has worked tirelessly to answer this question since 2007. For over a decade they have taken legal action to stop corrupt leaders benefitting from assets held in France. In 2017, they celebrated a major victory as Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President Teodorin Obiang was convicted of embezzling more than €150 million (US$174 million) of public money and had all his assets in France confiscated.
There is an urgent need for new laws to ensure that confiscated assets can be returned to citizens, and not to state treasuries susceptible to corruption. A proposed law to that end has already been tabled in the French Senate and will be debated in April.
Ahead of this parliamentary debate, we need to convince decision-makers to adapt the French legal framework and discuss concrete solutions for returning confiscated assets ethically.
Help TI France!
And what about The Gambia? Since Jammeh was forced to leave office in 2017, our analysis shows that The Gambia has made significant anti-corruption progress. However, Jammeh has yet to face any consequences for the havoc he caused. He is currently in exile in none other than Equatorial Guinea. |
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New on Voices for Transparency
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Democracy and corruption is a key theme in this year’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), where Nigeria scores 27 out of 100. Nigeria has neither significantly improved nor declined on the CPI in the past six years – we look at why, as part of our Corruption Perceptions Index 2018 in focus series. |
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Can we eradicate corruption in the mining sector? TI Mining reflects on how to work together towards a more transparent and accountable extraction industry. |
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Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all is vital for the development of individuals and societies. Corruption can undermine health services and make this very difficult to achieve. |
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As Ukrainian citizens head to the polls to elect their next president on Sunday 31 March the causes and consequences of corruption will be top of mind. |
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