Madi Jobarteh, Executive Director of the Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice, has accused the Barrow administration of having no interest in fighting corruption, arguing that the government lacks the will and commitment needed to tackle the problem.

Jobarteh made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Gambiana, where he said corruption has become widespread because alleged wrongdoing within government goes unchecked and unpunished.

“Sadly, the Barrow administration, President Barrow as the president, has no interest in fighting corruption. He doesn’t have the will and he doesn’t have the commitment, which explains why corruption is so widespread,” Jobarteh said.

He further argued that corruption is not only a governance and financial issue but also a major human rights concern.

“And that is a huge concern, because corruption is the foundation for human rights violations,” he said.

According to Jobarteh, corruption can deprive citizens of their social and economic rights by affecting the delivery of essential services.

“Corruption denies citizens rights in terms of social and economic rights, because it denies them rules and services,” he said.

He also warned that corruption can contribute to the deterioration of governance, saying it can fuel and strengthen bad governance and ultimately threaten democratic rule.

“But corruption also is the basis that fuels and strengthens bad governance, which eventually translates it to a dictatorship,” Jobarteh said.

The human rights activist further linked corruption to violations of the law and the abuse of public office.

“Every human rights violation you see, every instance of disregard of the law, every instance of abuse of office, is a manifestation of corruption,” he said.

Jobarteh described corruption as “a very dangerous phenomenon” which, he maintained, is widespread in The Gambia.

By Adama Makasuba