THE GAMBIA: FY07 MCC SELECTION PROCESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANJUL 000707

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2016
TAGS: EAID EFIN KMCA PREL PGOV GA
SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: FY07 MCC SELECTION PROCESS

REF: STATE 187635

Classified By: Ambassador Joseph Stafford, reason 1.4 (b and d)


1. (SBU) Per reftel, Ambassador informed Foreign Minister
Bala Garba Jahumpa that the Millenium Challenge
Corporation's (MCC) Board of Directors did not re-select The
Gambia for Compact eligibility for FY07 as it was currently
suspended. Ambassador urged the GOTG to address the areas of
policy slippage on eligibility criteria that had resulted in
suspension so as to begin the process of seeking
reinstatement. He also reiterated that the Embassy remained
at the GOTG's disposal for consultation on steps that the
GOTG could take in pursuit of reinstatement, while also
indicating that the GOTG bore full responsibility for taking
such steps. Jahumpa took note of Ambassador's presentation,
but made no substantive comment.


2. (C) COMMENT: Following the mid-June suspension of The
Gambia's MCA eligibility, we have time and again reviewed
with the GOTG the areas of policy slippage that prompted the
MCC's decision and urged the Gambians to address these areas
so as to earn consideration for reinstatement in due course.
So far, there has been little evidence of the GOTG taking
corrective action, particularly in the area of "ruling
justly," where backsliding was highlighted by the
deteriorating human rights environment following a failed
coup plot in March. Focus on intervening events -- in
particular, the GOTG-hosted African Union Summit and
Presidential election, in July and September, respectively --
are doubtless a factor in the GOTG's failure to engage with
us actively on the MCA dossier; another factor may well be
ongoing resentment over the suspension by The Gambia's
volatile and erratic President, Yahya Jammeh. END COMMENT.





STAFFORD