One of the longest serving employees of the Jammeh regime, the auditor General Babucarr Sankareh has reportedly been fired. As usual no explanation has been given for his removal sending the usual speculations across the airwaves. While Babucarr has been praised as a principled and honest auditor, many Gambians are wondering how could an honest and principled auditor General have stayed for so long in the face of the most openly corrupt regime on the face of this planet.
Two things might explain why young Sankareh stayed for so long out of the public lime light; one either he kept a low profile ignoring the financial irregularities of government and his role to effectively oversee the accounts of government, or two simply he was kissing off to the regime and minding his business caring less about the role of his department to preserve his position…
In the interest of disclosure we know Babucarr, went to school with him as our Junior at Armitage and to be honest he used to be a fine gentle young man, very intelligent and smart… His appointment as auditor General fresh from doing his ACCA was welcomed by many Gambians.
However, many have always been baffled by him continuing to serve this regime while financial misappropriations continue to be nakedly displayed in almost every government department. The role of the auditor General is extremely important in any government. The constitution mandates that government accounts get audited atleast every five years and submitted to the house of Parliament for review; This has not been the case under Babucarr Sankareh. So Sankareh God knows what he did, but he cannot claim ignorant of the financial mismanagement of the Jammeh government.. And besides for the period he served Gambians did not see a comprehensive independent auditing of government accounts… so one may ask what is the role of the Auditor General????
The jury is out on what he did and how honestly did he serve his country? Many wonder if recent firings and arrest of Pa Harry Jammeh, Justice Minister Jobarteh may have something to do with Babucarr’s firing… Now that one of the longest serving has departed, many are speculating whether VP Njie Saidy is next in line to see her marching orders… A country is bigger than one person…. Every man for themselves God for us all!