10/30/2025
GALA Appear Before National Assembly Committee Standing Committee for their Petition on Land allocation, Audit reports and the GPA Missing Millions.
The executive of Gambians Against Looted Assets (GALA) on Thursday appeared before the Public Petition Committee of the National Assembly following a petition requesting an investigation into three major issues of public concern: Audit reports, Land allocation, and the GPA missing million scandal.
The GALA delegation, which included Hakeem Touray, Omar Sanyang, Kaddy Jadama, Kexx Sanneh, Al-Amin Lyed Drame, and Abdoulie T. Bah, met with Committee members after receiving a letter to appear before the committee regarding our petition to the clerk of the National Assembly.
Upon arrival, GALA members were welcomed at the National Assembly Committee room 2 where we met the committee members consisting of the chairperson Hon. Suwaibou Touray, Hon. Fatoumatta Jawara (Vice Chairperson), Amadou Camara (Member) and Modou Bah (Clerk)
After the introduction, Hon. Suwaibou Touray informed GALA that they received our petition on three issues but only one of the three issues was approved by the Clerk for the committee's immediate consideration, the investigation into Audit reports.
The Committee Chairperson explained that the two other concerns—Land allocation and the GPA missing millions-were excluded because our petition did not demonstrate that GALA had first engaged the relevant authorities for answers. Hon. Touray emphasised that the Public Petition Committee must serve as the "last resort," encouraging the group to seek answers from relevant bodies before petitioning the oversight institution.
He encourages us to first engage the relevant authorities for an answer; if there is no success, we can write a petition to the clerk.
GALA’s Media and Communication officer, Comrade Kexx Sanneh, informed the committee that the investigation into the GPA missing millions has taken ages, as GALA's investigation reveals that the police have concluded their investigation and a report was sent to the AG Chamber for legal opinion and it has been months without any action from the government.
In response, Hon. Suwaibou Touray provided an update received by the committee regarding the GPA missing millions, the Chairman stated the police had earlier completed the investigation and sent the report to AG Chamber for legal opinion and the report was sent back to the police for further investigation Upon completion of the further investigation the report was sent back to AG Chamber and the matter is currently awaiting legal advice from the Attorney General’s Chambers.
The National Coordinator inquired whether there had been any follow-up action from the Petitions Committee on the report of the GPA missing a million after GALA submitted the petition. The Vice Chairperson responded that the committee itself does not have the mandate to review the petition, but rather, the Clerk and his office are responsible, and upon approval, the committee is tasked to investigate.
The chairperson moved to ask whether GALA has a specific Audit report they want the committee to investigate or the entire audit reports
Comrade Kexx Sanneh clarified GALA's focus on audit reports, stating the immediate priority of GALA is the COVID-19 funds audit report, alongside all other relevant reports, as the overall objective is to ensure accountability across all public institutions where there's misuse of public resources.
The committee engaged us to provide them with the audit reports they are interested in for their investigation, and GALA promised to provide the audit reports they wanted for their investigation.
The meeting concluded with a clear, collaborative path forward. GALA informed the committee to write to the two Ministries of Lands and Justice for answers regarding the Land allocation and the GPA missing millions, seeking official answers. If the engagements are unsuccessful, GALA will then resubmit a revised petition to the Clerk for the committee’s formal inquiry.
GALA
