Gambia: How Yaya Jammeh Was swindling millions from the sale of Tobaski ram sale to Govt employees at prices above their monthly basic salaries

Many ordinary Gambians did not purchase ram this tobaski to mark the feast of sacrifice as mandated by the Muslim religion. A good number of the livestock vendors and dealers have decry this year’s Tobaski sale and are disappointed with the turnover. The high prices of tobaski ram observed during this Tobaski has made some people to turn their back on vendors. Some dealers were selling an average sheep that used to cost D8, 000 as high as D 20, 000 whilst some went over D50, 000 at various selling points in the greater Banjul area.  Livestock vendors are still struggling to sell the unsold rams but sale is very slow and they cannot return them to their countries from the sub region.


For the first time in more than 22 years, there was no interference in the sale of rams by the former president who never hesitated to intervene in the buying and selling of livestock, meat, bread and other commodities to make huge profits for his numerous businesses. Every Tobaski, the former President was making millions from selling livestock to poor Government workers from state institutions whose basic salaries are far less than the cost of his rams. Fearing the repercussion of losing their jobs or be arrested, state employees are forced to collect sheep from Jammeh’s stock and the heads of each government institution will be asked to fully pay all bills submitted by Jammeh’s businesses for settlement irrespective of whether their employees collected the sheep or not.  Most institutions like GPA, SSHFC, GAMTEL, GNA, POLICE, and IMMIGRATION were paying bills of up to D5, 000, 000 to the ex-President.

The profits Jammeh was making from the Tobaski ram sale was outrageous and how he was robbing some livestock vendors during the feast was also beyond comprehension. He would force many livestock dealers mostly from countries in the sub region to sell all their flock of sheep to his agents at giveaway prices promising payment which most often are unpaid. This is how it was done:

1. Jammeh would set the minimum price for tobaski rams at D 5,000 as benchmark price discouraging many ram sellers coming from other countries in the sub region to make the journey to the Gambia to limit the supply. At the same time he would intervene in the currency market to raise the value of the CFA against the dalasi to make it difficult for those to sell at his benchmark price.
2. Those few vendors who have already made the journey to the country, he would buy their stock at cut-throat prices and some should count their blessings if they ever get payment in full for the prices they bargained for.
3. Jammeh would then direct all government and state institutions including the security services to extend “tobaski” loan facility to all their staff. Normally these loans should not exceed the basic salaries of employees and should be payable within six months. Hence they are generally referred to as “1×6” loans. A majority of those beneficiaries are paid less than D 3, 000 per month. How can they be able to settle the price of sheep at D 6, 000 or D7, 000, is anybody’s guess?
4. The institutions would then compile a list of all their employees who would turn up to collect the sheep. Whether the sheep given to them matched the size they needed or not was not his concern. He was only interested to swindle poor civil servants as well as those in the security services whose basic salaries cannot match the over-priced ram from his stock.
5. Now, all those institutions would have to settle the bill presented for payment without conducting a due diligence on the questionable invoices. A scrutiny of the bills revealed the tampering of the original prices. While the prices are often adjusted upwards, some institutions have been making Payments of up to D6, 000, 000 every Tobaski. The Commission should look into this as well!

Meanwhile, there are still lots of unsold rams and the frustration of vendors is getting worst everyday at the slow pace of sale. With Jammeh  out of the equation and the people are refusing to buy rams at such ridiculous prices, an unprecedented glut in the supply of rams for Tobaski will continue unabated for many years to come. The market fundamentals of demand and supply in the livestock market has spoken.  Dealers will have to adjust their prices or continue to be disappointed from a once profitable venture. Kharr yee denge lamba!