Skypower Radio & Tv Services

23/09/2025

21/09/2025

Street Nail-Cutting Practices in The Gambia: A Public Health Concern

Dr Alieu SK Manjang

In The Gambia, it is common to see non-Gambians from countries such as Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, iMauritania, Liberia, and Sierra Leone engaging in street vending, moving through neighborhoods, and visiting compounds for business. However, in recent times, a new trend has emerged: individuals, often unfamiliar in both appearance and language, roaming the streets offering to cut people’s nails for a fee.

While this may appear to be just another form of livelihood, it poses significant health risks. The practice often involves using the same tools on multiple people without proper sterilization, creating a potential pathway for the transmission of communicable diseases. The public-health implications of such practices warrant urgent attention from the relevant authorities. At the same time, individuals must exercise extra caution, remain conscious of the risks, and protect themselves against infections that can spread through such unsafe procedures.

21/09/2025

Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration, and Employment’s (MOTIE), Role in the Ecotra Scandal by Ndey Jobarteh

✅Choosing the Companies (2021)

When food prices were rising in 2021, MOTIE designed a scheme to import rice and oil.

MOTIE handpicked two companies: Win Win Oils and Rahma.

Mega Bank was told to work with one of them, and they chose Win Win.

MOTIE gave Win Win/Ecotra their first chance.

✅Pushing Mega Bank to Approve Loans

MOTIE was copied in correspondence when Mega Bank reviewed the D230m facility.

Even though Win Win’s owner (Alhaji Kebbeh) had bad debts and fraud cases, MOTIE still supported the deal.

Later, when Win Win collapsed, MOTIE was involved in transferring the same facility to JV/Ecotra (Amadou Sanneh’s company).

MOTIE knew the risks but went ahead anyway.

✅Facilitating Dollars from Central Bank

Ecotra didn’t just get dalasi loans; it also got $13.3 million from the Central Bank’s reserves.

Every time Ecotra needed forex, MOTIE wrote a letter of support to the Central Bank.

Without MOTIE’s intervention, Ecotra would not have accessed that much foreign currency.

MOTIE acted as Ecotra’s doorway to the Central Bank’s dollars.

✅Marketing Ecotra’s Rice

In 2023, MOTIE issued a press release advertising Ecotra’s rice alongside NFSPMC’s rice.

This gave Ecotra the appearance of being a State backed importer, even though it was a private family company.

MOTIE gave Ecotra legitimacy in the public eye.

✅Why This Is Serious

MOTIE is supposed to regulate fair trade and protect consumers.

Instead, it became an agent for one politically connected company.

MOTIE’s actions show this was not a normal business, it was a Government family partnership dressed up as food security.

✅In short: The Ministry of Trade acted like Ecotra’s sponsor, selecting it, defending it, financing it, and even marketing its rice.

20/09/2025

ACCOUNTABILITY ON TRIAL : PARLIAMENT VS EXECUTIVE IN THE RUSSIAN OIL SCANDAL

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20/09/2025

Mega Bank’s Role in the Ecotra Scandal by Ndey Jobarteh

✅Approved the First Big Loan (2021)

In June 2021, Mega Bank (then state-owned) approved a D230 million overdraft facility for Win Win.

Win Win’s collateral was only D15.5 million (less than 7% of the loan), even though the bank’s rules required collateral worth 150% of the loan.

The bank ignored its own credit risk policy and pushed the deal through after “green light” from the Ministry of Finance and Trade.

Mega Bank was the channel through which the nephew’s company first accessed big money.

✅Transferred the Loan to JV/Ecotra (2022)

When Win Win failed, Mega Bank approved the transfer of the same D230m facility to JV General Trading (later renamed Ecotra) in May 2022.

JV was only five months old at the time. The bank’s rules forbid giving such large facilities to companies under 1 year, but they broke the rule.

This is how Amadou Sanneh (Barrow’s nephew) formally entered the picture.

✅Extended and Restructured Debt

By Dec 2023, Ecotra owed Mega Bank D175 million in unpaid debt.

Instead of enforcing repayment, Mega Bank extended and restructured the loan several times.

By 2025, Ecotra still owes over D100 million.

Mega Bank kept Ecotra alive with special treatment, unlike ordinary borrowers who lose their homes or land when they default.

✅New Big Facility (2024)

After Mega Bank was privatized, it still gave Ecotra a new D326 million facility, the same size as the one given to NFSPMC, the national food importer.

This showed the bank treated Ecotra like a parastatal.

✅Why This Matters
Mega Bank is supposed to protect depositors’ money, not gamble it on politically connected businesses.

It broke its own rules to serve Ecotra.

When the bank was sold in 2023, it was sold at a loss to the State, after years of taxpayer money had been used to keep it alive.

Ecotra still owes the bank over D100 million , a debt carried by the system, not enforced like it would be for an ordinary Gambian.

✅In short: Mega Bank was the pipeline of billions. Without Mega Bank’s approvals, Ecotra would never have touched state money.

19/09/2025

FORNICATION

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19/09/2025

NEW AUDITOR GENERAL “FORMER GAWFA BOSS” CHEA.

Cherno Amadou Sowe has started work as auditor general following appointment by President Adama Barrow on 10 September 2025.
“AG Sowe has thus begun engaging with the two deputy auditors general to facilitate the transition in the absence of a formal handing-over. Orientation measures are being implemented to ensure the uninterrupted ex*****on of the auditor general’s constitutional duties. He has also planned engagements with senior management and staff to reinforce professionalism and teamwork in support of the NAO’s strategic vision and operations.

19/09/2025

Our Weekly Civic Education Program will be back on Skypower this Saturday 20/09/25 UK time, 16pm Gunjur time.

19/09/2025

How the Central Bank Was Involved in ECOTRA's Scandal by Ndey Jobarteh

Approving Illegal Loans
Mega Bank’s D230 million loan to Win Win/Ecotra was above the 25% lending limit set by banking law.

The Central Bank Governor, Buah Saidy, approved a “single obligor waiver” to bypass this limit.

This was done despite warnings from senior CBG officials (like Dr. Seeku Jabbi) that the borrower had unpaid debts and should not get more credit.

Selling Dollars From Reserves
From Feb 2022 – Sept 2024, CBG sold at least $13.3 million (≈ D900 million) directly to JV/Ecotra.

Normally, CBG must sell foreign exchange through public auctions so all businesses have equal chance.

Instead, CBG gave Ecotra preferential access,secretly, through the Ministry of Trade.
Parliament asked for the list of companies that benefited, but the Ministry and CBG hid the names.

Corporate Guarantees
CBG itself issued a corporate guarantee for Ecotra’s facilities (and NFSPMC’s).

At one point, the combined guarantee was over 200% of Mega Bank’s capital, an extraordinary breach of prudential limits.

Why This Matters
The Central Bank is supposed to protect our money and reserves, not hand them to politically connected companies.

By approving illegal waivers, secretly selling dollars, and giving guarantees, CBG acted as a partner in state capture.

Instead of keeping the financial system safe, the Central Bank helped turn it into a family business.

So in simple terms: The Finance Ministry opened the door, and the Central Bank carried the bags of money through it, straight to Ecotra.

Thanks to The Republic.

18/09/2025

How the Ministry of Finance Was Involved in Ecotra by Ndey Jobarteh

✅Sovereign Guarantees

In 2021, when the first facility (D230 million) was given to Win Win, the Ministry of Finance issued a sovereign guarantee, meaning if the company failed, the State (taxpayers) would pay.

After Win Win collapsed, in May 2022, Finance Minister Seedy Keita and his Permanent Secretary Abdoulie Jallow signed an addendum transferring that guarantee to JV/Ecotra.

This was done even though the company was only 5 months old, violating the bank’s own risk policy.

✅Ignoring the Public Finance Act (Section 46)

The law requires a risk assessment in writing before issuing guarantees, and beneficiaries must pay a fee to cover the State’s risk.

There is no evidence this was done for Ecotra.

✅Extending & Restructuring Debt

By Dec 2023, Ecotra still owed D175 million. Instead of enforcing repayment, the Ministry allowed repeated extensions and restructuring of the debt.

✅Foreign Exchange Access

The Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Trade, facilitated Ecotra’s access to $13.3 million from the Central Bank (2022–24).

When MPs asked for the list of businesses that got these dollars, the Ministry of Finance redacted the names and withheld the data, hiding Ecotra’s identity.

✅Why This Matters

The Ministry of Finance is supposed to protect public funds, not hand them out recklessly.

By guaranteeing loans, shifting facilities, and giving preferential access to foreign reserves, the Ministry made sure the President’s nephew’s company could never fail, even at the people’s expense.

Parliament and the public were deliberately kept in the dark.


✅In short: Without the Ministry of Finance, Ecotra would not exist as a billion dalasi food importer today.

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Source: The Republic

18/09/2025

Our Weekly Islamic Forum Discussion with Imam Seedy Ali Jammeh will be back on Skypower and Gunjur Radio Jannenkoto FM 101.1mhz this Friday 19/09/25 UK time 20pm Gunjur time.