Dr. Banja Sent On Leave Following Malagen’s Story On Bribery

State investigations followed Malagen’s investigative story, published last week, about a series of payments of bribery that Dr Banja allegedly received from Golden Lead, a scandal-ridden Chinese-owned fish meal company. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries, Dr Bamba Banja, has been sent on administrative leave effective Monday October 12, the Minister for Information Ebrima Sillah has confirmed to Malagen. The move followed Malagen’s investigative story, published last week, about a series of  payments of bribery that Dr Banja allegedly received from Golden Lead, a scandal-ridden Chinese-owned fish meal company. “Yes, I can confirm that Dr Banja is on leave and I am in...

October 13, 2021Breaking News, Investigations
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RE: Health Ministry’s $3.9m deal: who got a cut for medical “things bought for dying individuals”

By Dr. Muhammed B. Jaiteh and Dr. Ebrima S. Njie We have keenly read the above article that you published on your website on August 27, 2021. While we acknowledge your efforts to establish accountability, we also see it necessary to address certain claims that the said article made reference to concerning our person. In the report, one Isatou Jobe –the First Secretary at the Gambian Embassy in Turkey—claimed that Dr. Muhammed Jaiteh and some other Gambians demanded commission as part of transactions in the buildup to the deal. It further brought Dr. Ebrima S. Njie under the spotlight by referencing...

September 9, 2021Investigations, Opinions
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Re: Health Ministry’s Response To A Malagen story on controversial $3.4m procurement deal

The Gambia’s ministry of health last year struck a $3.9m deal with a Turkey-based company called TMS for the purchase of medical items and equipment. Ten ambulances are included in the procurement, each reportedly bought for $89,750, approx. D5m at the time. Malagen investigations published on August 27 revealed that the deal is fraught with irregularities, raising questions about corruption. Due process was barely observed in apparent breach of national and donor procurement rules. The health ministry made a contract on non-negotiable terms only to make a futile attempt to negotiate prices and specifications mid-way through. The prices of...

September 2, 2021Investigations
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Health Ministry’s $3.9m Deal: Who Got A Cut For Medical ‘Things Bought For Dying Individuals’

The Gambia’s ministry of health last year struck a $3.9m deal with a Turkey-based company for the purchase of medical items and equipment. Ten ambulances are included in the procurement, each reportedly bought for $89,750, approx. D5m at the time. · Malagen confirms from multiple sources that such ambulances cost at average price of $60,000 and from the deal, the ministry could have saved at least D90m of taxpayer funds, which could build at least 10 standard health posts and 40 community boreholes. · ...

August 27, 2021Investigations, The Big Story
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The Gambia’s Water Paradox: How A Country With Plentiful Water Resources Is Failing To Provide Safe Water To Its People

Bintou Kijera was exhausted. Neither she nor her three-year-old daughter had slept the previous night: the little girl was simply too sick. The two were at The Gambia’s second biggest hospital, Serekunda General Hospital, where the toddler had been diagnosed with diarrhoea. “I have changed her diapers more than four times,” the young woman said, pointing at the pale and malnourished looking girl mounted on her back. Neither Kijera nor the nurse who diagnosed the condition of her daughter could say for certain what caused her diarrhoea. “I don’t actually know whether it is caused by the food she ate or the water she...

July 24, 2021Investigations, The Big Story
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Inside Malagasy ‘Miracle Covid Cure’ Donation that Costs Gambia D2.2M.

The Gambia government authorities claim to have paid more than D2.2 million to transport only three boxes of the Malagasy Covid-19 herbal medicine from Guinea Bissau - less than an hour away by flight from Banjul. Our Investigation reveals that the instructions came from the State House, and the authorities appeared to have sidelined key oversight institutions while disregarding the laws and regulations on public spending, especially on matters dealing with Covid-19 expenditures. One year on, the ‘miracle cure’ for Covid-19 continues to gather dust in the medical stores, and questions are now being raised about possible fraud. “I don’t believe...

June 11, 2021Investigations, The Big Story
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This one I’ll share with my minister’: Fresh bribery scandal hits Fisheries Ministry

After two months of investigations, Malagen has gained access to secretly recorded tapes and official correspondences. The medium has also conducted interviews with deep-throat informants and confronted key players at the Ministry of Fisheries, including minister James Gomez and permanent secretary Dr Bamba Banja both of whom are named in a bribery scandal. In briefs Money has many times changed hands between Golden Lead, a scandal-ridden Chinese owned fish meal company and top officials of the Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources, a former staff turned informant told Malagen. One such alleged encounter was captured in an audio clip where a voice, purportedly...

October 20, 2020Investigations, The Big Story
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