Editorial,

Corruption is an enemy of progress and development. In a society where corruption is the order of the day, public office becomes the mother of personal gains as development funds are diverted into channels that satisfy personal interest. Corruption allows inefficiency to persist and distorts the potential for growth.

It discourages foreign investment and corrodes the budgets allocated to public procurement that enable basic infrastructure in poverty stricken areas to be built; such as roads, schools and hospitals.  Such a system only perpetuates underdevelopment. It is obvious that our backwardness as a sovereign nation in thirty years' self governance can be explained by the high level of massive corruption at the helm of state affairs.

This explains why the July22nd revolution was built on the pillars of accountability and transparency.  Since taking the mantle of leadership, the need to enhance public trust and confidence among the citizenry has been a central focus of President Jammeh. Moreover, the president realised that nation building relies on public support, on people's willingness to give time to causes they care about as well as their tacit goodwill towards the nation as a whole.

As such, restoring people's trust and confidence in the people who occupy public office is vital to the health of our development process. This means that we can trust our public servants to make a difference, not only in delivering value but also adding value.

Since the birth of a new Gambia, President Jammeh's battle against corruption has been known to all and sundry as every resident of The Gambia, citizens and non citizens alike, are aware of 'Operation No Compromise'. In fact, it is no exaggeration to advance that our speedy success in development is due to President Jammeh's success in confronting corruption in his government.  Today, the country is proud of good roads, hospitals, adequate water and electricity supply and a host of other development projects because the current leadership has engendered a transparent and accountable government.

Transparency helps not only to inform the public about development ideas and proposals, but also to convince citizens that the public agencies are interested in listening to their views and responding to their priorities and concerns. President Jammeh's strong commitment to accountability and transparency justifies his increasing popularity among the people. What is important is for our public trustees to work with the president to combat the menace of corruption in the country. Taking the president as a role model will go a long way in meeting our development targets.