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Jobat’s call comes amid a land allocation dispute, with Dabo demanding that Barrow return state land in Fajara. However, the Barrow government, in a counter-press release, accused Dabo and his family of being allocated the land.
Dabo, who is also leader of the opposition United Democratic Party, revealed in a dramatic confession that his family and daughter were allocated land only after he left the Barrow government.
Madi Jobate, however, said the situation was worrying, adding that just as Barrow was asked to return the land allocated to him, in the same spirit, Dabo should also be asked to return the land allocated to his family.
“When UDP leader Ousainou Darboe disclosed the illegal allocation of state land to President Barrow, the government went to great lengths to disclose that Darboe’s wife and daughter also received state land during his time in office. Now Darboe has publicly clarified that the land allocated to his family was indeed real, but it was allocated after he left government. I am indeed concerned about this disclosure.
“State land is not the property of the government. The Gambia and its resources belong to all Gambians. The public resources of The Gambia do not belong only to government officials, therefore the country does not belong only to those who work in the government and their families and friends. So we cannot accept a system where those who work in the government, as long as you are an official, enjoy benefits, privileges and resources and then extend those privileges to your family and friends as well,” he said.
“In any case, the point is that just as Adama Barrow must be asked to return the land allocated to him, so too should Dabo’s family return the land allocated to them. Similarly, the land allocated to members of the National Assembly, senior government officials including ministers and their families and friends from 2017 till date should be returned. There is no doubt that these people enjoyed this opportunity simply because they are current or former senior officials or family members of such officials. Public office must not be used for personal gain.”
“Unless Mr Dabo’s wife and daughters can prove that they do not own any other land, I hereby urge them to return the land disclosed by Mr Dabo himself. Mr Dabo may have left the government at that time, but he was a former vice president and former foreign minister, so his influence and power were real. So even if his immediate family did not own land, they needed to be cautious in applying for state land for ethical reasons, given that Mr Dabo was once vice president and minister.
“In this case, if Dabo wants to maintain his integrity and credibility as a former senior official and leader of the largest opposition party, he should advise his core family members not to pursue such opportunities so as not to raise questions of ethics, undue advantage and influence. Therefore, while joining him in calling on the public to demand that Barrow return the land that was illegally gifted to him, I also wish to call on Dabo to demand that his family return the land that was gifted to them on moral grounds. We must practice what we preach,” he added.
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