Treasurer unreachable, Vice Chairman and Secretary General resign at Association of Gambian Sailors

Tayib Sey, vice chairman and Abubacarr Sillah, secretary general of the Association of Gambian Sailors (AGS) last week tendered their letters of resignation to the association, following enquiries by their members which revealed that their funds are missing from their account and that the actual amount missing is not known.

The angry members also accused the executive of not informing them of any progress made in the association and that they were not conducting their monthly meetings regularly.

Meanwhile, the executive have been dissolved and a new interim committee set up to manage the affairs of the association towards the next congress, slated for march 29, 2008.

However, members of the association, on Tuesday 11th March, 2008, called on Mr. Adiatou Njie, director at the fisheries department in Banjul, to discuss issues about the association and seek solutions to the problems.

It was in this meeting that March 29, 2008 was slated for the congress when a new executive would be elected.

Speaking to the Daily Observer at their head office at Lasso Wharf Market in Banjul, Abdou Sanyang, acting Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the interim committee, said that their funds have gone missing and that only D10,000 (ten thousand dalasis) has been left in their account at Arab Gambian Islamic Bank (AGIB).

Famara Badjie, Omar Gai and Malick Mboge, all members of the association, blamed the executive for failure of duty and accused them for negligence since they were elected into office from 1994 to date.

The told the Daily Observer that their association was formed in 1994 and that it had a membership roll of over 200 people.

When asked how much money was missing from 1994 to date, Abdou Sanyang said it is only Segga Njie, the treasurer, that could answer that question, but he was quick to say that Segga Njie was not reachable and that he had not been reporting to the office for quite a long time now.

Mr Sanyang also added that during their last congress in 2007, the executive announced that only D10,000 was left in their account, and that it was saved at AGIB.

Meanwhile, Abdou Sanyang and Sait Cham were selected to run the affairs of the association before the congress on March 29, 2008. All the members of the executive committee were urged to submit any material belonging to the association to their head office at Lasso Whart market in Banjul.