Many Gambians especially those on social media have raised eyebrows on the recent social networking dinner event organized by Fatu Camara at her residence in which journalists and activists hobnobbed with the First Lady, Fatoumatta Bah Barrow. Critics accused the organizer of the event, Fatu Camara, of unprofessional conduct and playing double standards for inviting the First Lady who is embroiled in a suspected 35 million dalasi corruption scandal.

Fatu was one of the first journalists to break the news that an amount of 35 million dalasi that was secretly transferred to the account of First Lady Fatoumata Bah Barrow Foundation by TBEA Co., Ltd, a Chinese company, went missing on suspicious circumstances. The Fatoumatta Bah Barrow Foundation, FABB, at the time announced that they have launched an investigation into the missing money but have so far neither come up with any cogent explanation of what happened or the conclusion of their investigations.

In one of her initial comments on the issue last August, Fatu Camara wrote:

“Gambia woo Gambia..You all better encourage the First Lady to clear her name rather than heaping praises on her, calling her Mother of the Nation, Lady with class, humble and all what not. What is wrong with us Gambians???

“This woman’s reputation is at stake with all the bad publicity she and her foundation are getting for the past weeks. Any International Organization or company that wants to work with her may think twice because of what is on the internet about her and FABB. That right there is very bad press for her. Please let us encourage her to clear her name and FABB so she can have her respect and admiration back.

“Madam Barrow: Remember Gambians did the same to Jammeh, making him believe that he is the best since sliced bread. Do not fall for this, clear your name and gain your respect back, period.”

That post kicked off a social media storm in which Gambians asked the First Lady Fatoumatta Barrow to come clean about what happened to the missing money. First Lady Kodo lay became the slogan of the campaign. Awa Ceesay, who works with Fatu Camara, spearheaded the First Lady Kodo lay Campaign. She won the support and admiration of many Gambians especially those in the diaspora who urged her not to relent until the location of the money was known.

Meanwhile, on 12 November 2018 Fatu Camara reported that she was invited to attend a meeting organised by the First Lady Fatoumatta Bah Barrow to meet with members of The Network of Girls Against Human Trafficking after watching an interview they had on The Fatu Network. She said The First Lady organised the launch to listen to the girls narrate their stories and promised to see how best to get them engaged. Also present at that meeting was the Kodo Lay poster child, Awa Ceesay. After assessing the circumstances of the way that meeting was organised, my questions are: Why did the First Lady see the need to invite Fatu Camara and her cameras to be present for her (the First Lady) to listen to victims of trafficking?; and whether they (Fatu and Awa) used that opportunity of the meeting to ask the First Lady about the big question? Kodo lay?

Next on the sequence of events involving the First Lady Fatoumatta Bah Barrow, Fatu Camara and Awa Ceesay was their travel to Freetown to participate in the “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign launched by the First Lady of Sierra Leone; where the three where seen taking selfies.

After the Sierra Leone trip, Fatu Camara organized a diner at her home she called the Fatu Network Diaspora networking event. In one of her postings on Facebook just before the event, Fatu wrote:

“We are honored to receive confirmations from Mustapha Njie of TAF Africa Global, Momodou Jagana, President of The Gambia Chamber of Commerce, Three Ministers amongst many other dignitaries. We are awaiting another confirmation from a VIP.”

I suspected at that point the VIP she was refusing to name was the First Lady
Fatoumatta Bah Barrow. Fatu probably figured out that mentioning the First Lady’s name on her post would have turned off people from the event. So, the First Lady showed up at the dinner unannounced and afforded photo-op opportunity to those in attendance. There were many journalists and activists present at the event, but no one asked the First Lady about the money.

After the event, Fatu Camara posted on her Facebook: “…to First Lady Bah Barrow, what an honour to have you at my residence, this means a lot to me.”

After that Fatu and Awa became subjects of strong rebuke from Gambians on social media, amidst some commendation from some, on their hobnobbing with the First Lady who could not defend herself from corruption allegations.

In one of her responses to her critics, Fatu said: “They want me to keep fighting and they keep enjoying, aka nyo anyan.”

For her part, Away Ceesay posted this: “You can be doomi Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain if you wish, I don’t care. This farmers daughter is here to stay, no amount of gabbage spewing can stop that. I never for once called on anybody to stand by my side, alone I am stronger, solid as a rock.”

I think the failure of the First Lady and her foundation to come up with a clear explanation of where that money came from or on what circumstances the money was deposited or removed from their account smacks of culpability and heavily point to a cover-up.

It is criminal for public officials and their families to engage in corruption and graft; and it is immoral and unprofessional when the journalists and activists fighting corruption become cheerleaders for the officials they have accused of engaging in corruption.
If you claim that you are fighting for the “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign and yet engage or abet graft and corruption, you are not helping our girls. You are robbing them of good healthcare and education which incidentally put them at risk of early marriage and all forms of abuse.

Gambia is in a bad shape due to official graft and corruption and we expect better with the new government. We must change our ways my fellow Gambians. Corruption has serious consequences in our society because it cost lives and retardation. And it must be condemned and not condone.

To those people saying “Fatu do you”, you should know that your actions also encourage corruption. How can you be lamenting about the dismal medical care in our health facilities where people are dying from preventable illnesses that have now been accepted as the norm and yet support graft?

Our health facilities lack important lifesaving equipment such as scanners, medications etc. Just recently, I know of someone who suffered excruciating pain on his head from a fall at his home. He died at the RVTH hospital because they do not have the scanners to diagnose or relief the pain in his head.

By Lamin Jatta