General Mamat Cham is no longer the Chief of Staff of the Gambian Armed Forces. He resigned from his post a few days ago following accusations of corruption and abuse of power made against him by his former personal assistant, Sergeant Modou Saine.

The latter, who has since left the Army, publicly stated that General Cham had transformed a boat seized by the Army from migrant traffickers into a private fishing boat.

He allegedly gave his wife a pilgrimage ticket to Mecca reserved for the army.

He also reportedly traded a military vehicle for land in Farafenni and obtained a loan of one million dalasis for his wife from the Army Credit Union.

In addition, the high-ranking officer allegedly diverted a tractor donated to the army for his personal use and took coconut seedlings from the farm of former President Yahya Jammeh to sell to the Gambia Civil Aviation Authority.

His former personal assistant also accuses him of giving his wife a pilgrimage ticket to Mecca reserved for the army, as well as a scholarship to his unqualified son for cadet training in Morocco.

General Cham has publicly denied some of these accusations.

The government will investigate

For example, he stated that the migrant boat seized by the navy had been sold to him for 250,000 dalasis. Regarding his wife, he maintains that the loan she received was perfectly legitimate, as she is a member of his family.

A government source told "The Standard" newspaper that the government was taking these allegations very seriously and that legal consultations were underway with a view to conducting a formal investigation.