Mai Ahmed Fatty, Secretary General and Party Leader of the Gambia Moral Congress (GMC), has claimed that the current civil service structure is inadequate for fighting corruption.

Mai Fatty, who was speaking at the press conference on Tuesday, said a complete overhaul is needed, along with political will and courage. The current setup is not equipped to combat corruption, and a strong political will is necessary to overcome the challenges posed by corruption.

“I’m convinced that the setup and structure of the current civil service are not up for fighting corruption. We need real civil service reform and real political will and courage to see this war through. Because when you fight corruption, corruption fights you back. So you must be willing and have strong enough political will to do so. I know I will be able to fight corruption in this country. If given the opportunity,” he said.

Mai Fatty says that the Parliament’s passage of the anti-corruption bill shows a serious and committed effort to combat corruption. This law allows for the pursuit of corruption and corrupt practices, indicating a step in the right direction in combating corruption. Mai Fatty, however, said that more needs to be done to ensure effective implementation of the law and to hold those responsible for corruption accountable.

“At least finally, we are seeing some serious effort towards battling corruption with a law. I think it is in the right direction,” he said, expressing skepticism about the political will and commitment to follow through with enforcement.

“The Gambia has some of the best laws in the world, and we also have some of the best policies. They don’t work. Do you know why? because we are not committed to implementing them. Gambians are very intelligent. The Gambian civil service is one of the best when you want to produce any document. They can, but let me tell you, this is not the civil service I want to rely on with all due respect to the good ones there,” he added.