Mai Ahmed Fatty, leader of Gambia Moral Congress, has welcomed the indictment of three senior government officials on charges of economic crimes including official corruption, theft and forgery. 

The indicted officials are Lamin Jaiteh, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Balla Kandeh, Programme Manager of the Malaria Control Program and, Malleh Ceesay, Executive Director of HePDO.

According to the Attorney General Chamber’s, the charges are connected to the utilisation of the 2018 Global Funds grant allocated to the Ministry of Health of The Gambia.

Meanwhile, Mai Fatty said: “We applaud the commitment to fight corruption with the announcement by the Ministry of Justice of indictment against three senior government officials.

“We urge that the fight against corruption be broadened to the implementation of the Recommendations of the National Audit Office and that of the FPAC of the National Assembly,” he added.

He said Gambians should fight corruption as a non-partisan agenda, wherever credible facts support it.

“Similarly, we applaud the recent courageous initiatives made by Brikama Area Council, led by Chairman Yankuba Darboe, in combating corrupt practices. 

“The fight against corruption, is a fundamental national obligation that should be supported by all Gambians, regardless of political party affiliation. 

“When public figures, individuals & institutions sincerely perform well in the public interest, we should commend them regardless of which political party they belong to, just as we condemn excesses. What binds us as Gambians, is far greater than the exaggerated superficial partisan differences.

“Let us always remember that those accused are entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty before a competent court of law. That is the dictate of our Constitution. It is therefore legally and morally proper to wait for the judgement of the courts, before passing sentence on accused persons in the social media.”

Reporting by Adama Makasuba