Gambia's Finance Minister Responds to $30 Million Petroleum Scandal Report

Strategic Insights -

Gambia's Finance Minister Seedy Keita has responded to a parliamentary report on a $30 million petroleum scandal, acknowledging widespread governance failures, but insisting that allegations of bribery, tax evasion, and money laundering were unsubstantiated. The joint committee of the Finance and Public Accounts Committee and the Public Enterprises Committee scrutinized transactions involving Apogee FZC, Creed Energy Limited, and Ultimate Beigee Logistics. Minister Keita acknowledged the gravity of concerns highlighted in the report, including regulatory breaches, collusion, and non-compliance with financial laws.

Key Takeaways:

  • The joint report identified "serious governance and regulatory failures, pervasive non-compliance with financial, tax and corporate laws, and a troubling disregard for due process" in the sale of petroleum products valued at $30 million.
  • The Finance Minister acknowledged the gravity of the concerns, stating that the observed discovery of regulatory breaches, collusion, omission or commission posed a significant risk to public interest and damaged the country's reputation for public finance governance.
  • Creed Energy and Ultimate Beigee Logistics owe D8.5 million and D12.2 million in tax arrears respectively, with the Gambia Revenue Authority issuing "best of judgment assessments" after the companies failed to file tax returns.
  • The government has accepted the recommendation to initiate a criminal investigation into alleged conflicts of interest and breaches of fiduciary duty by Gam Petroleum's General Manager.
  • The Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) will face penalties for commercial banks found in breach of prudential risk guidelines.
  • The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) will conduct a special inquiry into how exclusive ullage privileges were granted to Apogee FZC.

Statistics:

  • $30 million: the value of petroleum products sold in transactions that were scrutinized by the joint committee.
  • D8.5 million: the amount of tax arrears owed by Creed Energy Limited.
  • D12.2 million: the amount of tax arrears owed by Ultimate Beigee Logistics.
  • 2025: the year in which the parliamentary report was written.

Sources:

  • FOROYAA Newspaper. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).