Profiting from rebellion:
Inside 'blood timber' traffickers network in Gambia
Dembo Badjie escaped the bullets by hiding under his bed. He points at bullet holes on his house
Dembo Badjie escaped the bullets by hiding under his bed. He points at bullet holes on his house
Sunlight penetrates through Dembo's roof. These are bullets holes and there are dozens of them. His wife is worried with rains just few months away
Sunlight penetrates through Dembo's roof. These are bullets holes and there are dozens of them. His wife is worried with rains just few months away
Badjie's house is not connected to the grid. It is powered by solar, which has now been damaged by bullets
Badjie's house is not connected to the grid. It is powered by solar, which has now been damaged by bullets
Badjie's wife has now returned home as well as some other villagers. She talks to Malagen about her experience. It was a reunion for some other villagers who were also displaced.
Badjie's wife has now returned home as well as some other villagers. She talks to Malagen about her experience. It was a reunion for some other villagers who were also displaced.
Now in his late 70s, the alkalo of Kappa Village in Foni has lived a decade more than the number of years a Gambian is expected to live. But as bullets rained down on his corrugated roofs, Dembo Badjie did not think twice about running for his life.
“I ran and hid under my bed. My wife and daughter ran away. I could not follow them,” the village chief told Malagen.
Mariama Bojang, a native of Funtang Village, also in Foni, was no less caught between fear and anger. She claims to be 100 years of age, though 80s seem more accurate. Unlike Badjie, she joined the exodus, covering more than three kilometres on foot to Bujinga where she took a break.
“My knees are hurting,” she said. She has only one shoe on, on her left foot. Her right foot is bare. She didn’t know where she dropped part of her prized pair of slippers. “We are suffering,” she added and took off.
These elderlies are among victims of recent clashes between the separatist fighters in Casamance and Senegalese. At the last count in April, more than thirteen thousand people are directly affected. This includes over 2000 under-fives and almost 400 lactating mothers.
Casamance in neighbouring Senegal has for the past four decades been trapped in conflict. But the trigger for the recent clashes is the long-running illegal timber trade. It has long been established as the ‘economic lifeline’ for the rebellion.
“There may be organised crime underneath, mafia networks or people who have enough money to become timber exporters,” an ECOMIG military personnel told Malagen.
“But we do know that MFDC is involved in wood trafficking. That is for sure,” he added.
The Gambia serves as a hub where the timber smuggled from Casamance transits to other destinations, mainly China.
In this investigation, Malagen exposes how a band of smugglers and business people in the Gambia some of them politically connected, continue to profit from the illicit trade in what has become known as ‘blood timber’.
The government is complicit. At the expense of lives and livelihoods, the presidency and environment ministry often waive the rules and authorise illegal export of timber in the name of ‘maximising revenue’ for the government.
“The communities where the timber is coming from are very poor. These areas have not enjoyed peace for a long time and our authorities are aware of the consequences of this trade on the lives of the people and their environment,” said Saikou Janko, president of an environmental advocacy group, All Gambia Forestry Platform.
The Timber Rebellion
The rebellion in Senegal started in 1982 when the government clamped down on peaceful protest by ‘marginalised’ southerners. This gave rise to riots. Then, a rebellion.
Today, Casamance is the scene to Africa’s longest running guerrilla warfare, which has claimed the lives of more than five thousand people while displacing tens of thousands of people. With a land mass of 28,400 square km – more than twice bigger than Gambia, the region is home to about two million people. And it is endowed with thick forest cover. The thickets are not only a place where the rebels are denned. The forest products are being exploited to finance the rebellion. Rosewood, an endangered species, is the jewel in the crown. It is known by the traffickers as the ivory of the forest.
Senegal has since 1998 placed a ban on timber export in a move to starve off the rebellion. Yet the trade flourishes in its troubled region.
Three years ago, in June 3, 2020, a US-based NGO, Environmental Investigation Agency, published the findings of a three-year investigation into the trade and reports that an estimated 1.6 million trees have been illegally harvested in Senegal and smuggled into Gambia.
“The rosewood traffic between Senegal and The Gambia has been largely controlled by the armed rebel group and is the principal source of income for the rebels,” the EIA reports.
From many official records, including state investigations seen by Malagen, the smuggling of rosewood gained notoriety when former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh became directly involved. This was in 2014.
Labelled as a sympathiser and sponsor of the rebellion, Jammeh reportedly made fortunes from the trade. Through his partners, Romanian businessmen Nicolai Buziainu and Dracos Andre Buziainu, he created a company called Westwood Gambia Ltd. From 2014, this company was given the monopoly of exporting timber via Gambia ports.
In 2017, a few months after Jammeh left power, his successor Adama Barrow launched an inquiry into his assets and finances. Jammeh’s involvement in the trade in timber was a subject of the commission’s investigation. The White Paper issued by the government in response to the inquiry reveals that Westwood exported at least 15,000 containers of rosewood timber in three years, between 2014 and 2016. The company made US$45.3m in revenue. President Jammeh’s company, Kanilai Family Farms, holding 50 per cent shares of Westwood, pocketed a total of $7.8m as dividends. The government made zero dollars. It wasn’t even paying tax, owing $5 million.
Senegal's other intentions
When President Jammeh refused to step down after his shock election defeat in 2016, the subregional bloc Ecowas deployed a military intervention to remove him from power.
The mandate of the Ecowas Military Intervention in The Gambia (ECOMIG) was to ‘restore democracy in the country’ and protect the will of the Gambian people. But Senegal apparently has other intentions.
“Since 2017, Senegal has been trying to stop the timber trade within the Gambia. But as long as exporting timber is legal in the Gambia, it will be hard for them to stop it,” said Sait Matty Jaw, a Gambian academic and researcher.
Soon after taking charge of key security installations, ECOMIG set up military bases and checkpoints in the Foni areas. There is a base in ex-president Jammeh’s native village of Kanilai and in the town of Bwiam. The contingent is composed of Senegalese military. From these bases, they patrol the borders, intercepting trucks carrying timber.
“In the past five months alone, we have intercepted at least 77 trucks of timber,” a ECOMIG military personnel from Senegal told Malagen.
The operation of the Senegalese forces in Foni is not without opposition. The residents do not only bear the brunt of the dangerous hot pursuits. They are often treated as suspects. “These people [soldiers], even the firewood that we collect from the bush and sell to pay the school fees of our children, they confiscate it. We are suffering,” said Kaddy Badjie, the lady counsellor of Foni Kansala.
Now though, they’re caught up in a crossfire.
The ECOWAS Military Intervention in The Gambia (ECOMIG) was necessitated by Jammeh's refusal to hand over power after losing election. Five years on, the intervention is still active.
The ECOWAS Military Intervention in The Gambia (ECOMIG) was necessitated by Jammeh's refusal to hand over power after losing election. Five years on, the intervention is still active.
Jammeh waves goodbye as he leaves for exile. He has long been accused of supporting the rebellion and his departure marks a turning point in Senegal's quest to defeat the rebellion.
Jammeh waves goodbye as he leaves for exile. He has long been accused of supporting the rebellion and his departure marks a turning point in Senegal's quest to defeat the rebellion.
Barrow arrives from Senegal where he was sworn in as president following his brief exile. He has since enjoyed close ties with his Senegalese counterpart, Macky Sall, and has heavily militarised the Foni areas where Senegalese contingent of ECOMIG patrol.
Barrow arrives from Senegal where he was sworn in as president following his brief exile. He has since enjoyed close ties with his Senegalese counterpart, Macky Sall, and has heavily militarised the Foni areas where Senegalese contingent of ECOMIG patrol.
The residents of Foni have expressed concerns about the heavy military presence in their neighbourhood.
The residents of Foni have expressed concerns about the heavy military presence in their neighbourhood.
The flash point
It was about 10am on Tuesday, Jan. 24. Dembo Badjie watched on with helplessness as a heavily armed Senegalese contingent of ECOMIG soldiers chased a truck carrying timber through his sleepy village of Kappa.
Few kilometres away from his village is Ballen, right on the border. The areas around the Gambian border villages in Foni are known to be under the control of the separatists.
Badjie had no idea the chase would end up in the rebel held areas. But the village chief of neighbouring Ballen, Ebrima Solo Bojang, knew the pursuit was headed towards a rebel den.
“I tried to stop the soldiers from pursuing the truck into Casamance, but they told me bullshit and drove off,” he said.
The areas bordering the Fonis have long been known to be controlled by the armed rebels led by Salif Sadio
The fighting on Jan. 24 left at least four Senegalese soldiers dead and seven captured. Senegal would launch a retaliatory attack a few weeks later. At the time of going to press, there were sporadic gunfights.
The story is similar in Ballen where three months on, life has not returned to normal. “Our kids have not been going to school for three months. Some of them have already dropped out and have gone to learn skills,” said …chair of the village development committee
The village chief Ebrima Solo Bojang decried that his village is empty. “I don’t sleep here at night,” said Bojang, sitting at his compound. “I come here during the day and at night, I join my family in Kampanti. Only few people in the village have returned to their homes.”
Timber trade booms regardless
President Jammeh is gone. His Westwood company is dead. But the trade in rosewood timber remains alive and booming despite the intensified efforts of Senegalese military in the Gambia.
In Feb. 2017, barely a few weeks after assuming office, Gambian President Adama Barrow announced a ban on export of timber from Gambia. What followed in March 2018 was an amendment of the Forestry Act, which now criminalises export of timber from the country. In 2018, President Barrow made a joint declaration with his Senegalese counterpart, Macky Sall, to combat illicit timber trade.
The Gambia’s behaviour however invites doubts about its commitments.
Malagen investigation reveals that in the first quarter of this year alone, at least 454 containers were exported, despite a ban on export.
As recently as in March, when the fighting was raging in Casamance with Gambians fleeing in droves, the ministry of environment continues to authorise export of timber.
“We are confused by this timber issue,” a port official who wished to be anonymous told Malagen. “One day, they [environment ministry] would issue a statement saying they have banned the trade. The next day, they would send us a letter authorising export.
The case in point: on March 3, environment ministry announced a moratorium on export of ‘timber on transit’. Barely a week later, on March 10, the ministry instructs the ports authorities to allow export of timber by dealers whose license were suspended.
That includes Drammeh and Brothers owned by Momodou Lamin Drammeh, the poster boy of timber export. Malagen can confirm that he is involved in the shipping of over 400 containers in the first quarter of this year.
Since shipping companies are now reluctant to ship out timber, the dealers have hired chartered cargo Granada Carrier to export the timber in January.
This satellite data shows trucks carrying timber on to Granada Carrier, a cargo that flies a Panamanian flag. This was taken in January.
The export of timber on transit became a subject of interest to the presidency earlier this year, multiple sources told Malagen.
That prompted a reply from the ministry of environment, as shown in this letter. It confirms that the presidency had in 2020 given directives for export of timber 'to maximise revenue for government'.
Moreover, in this letter, the ministry reported to the presidency that a total of 300 and 437 containers of timber were exported in 2019 and 2020, respectively. However, this is not consistent with the data available at the port, which shows that 2393 and 89 in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
The ministry of environment responds to a letter from the Office of the President.
The ministry of environment responds to a letter from the Office of the President.
An undercover person captures timber trafficking at the port in Banjul. Logs of rosewood are being loaded onto a cargo. Picture taken in January
An undercover person captures timber trafficking at the port in Banjul. Logs of rosewood are being loaded onto a cargo. Picture taken in January
The graph shows that in little over a decade – between 2012 and 2022 – about 23, 164 containers were exported from Gambia. This could be translated to a conservative estimate of 555,936 tons of timber. Each 20-foot container of timber is sold at US$22,000. It means the traders raked in over half a billion dollars.
This graphs compares the scale of timber export under President Barrow and his predecessor President Jammeh. It shows it has significantly reduced under Barrow
This graphs compares the scale of timber export under President Barrow and his predecessor President Jammeh. It shows it has significantly reduced under Barrow
However, this could be way less than the actual money accrued. Comparison between Gambian and Chinese figures in tonnage, covering the period from 2017 to 2021, tells a story of how the Gambian side underreports the figures.
But that does not tell the full story. Malagen investigations reveal that the tons of timber exported to China alone is twice more than what was recorded by the Gambian authorities. China is the major destination for rosewood from Gambia.
This graphs shows the mismatch in terms of the volume of export. Gambia records way less
How the presidency interferes
The Gambia’s ban on timber export appears to exist mainly on paper. Even then, the rules are sometimes erased or suspended and oftentimes violated by very people who swore to enforce them.
In 2019, the state launched an investigation into the illegal timber trade. This was prompted by the impounding of containers of timber smuggled into the port for export. The probe exposes the extent of the illicit timber trade. Scores of people and institutions that form the chain of the trade have been indicted and recommended for prosecution. Among them is the department of forestry.
The report has since Dec. 2019 been submitted to President Barrow and his environment minister, Lamin Dibba. Three years on, no action. Or, it was the opposite. In July 2020, President Barrow issued an executive order, declaring a suspension of the ban on timber export after a five-month moratorium.
With ‘unlawful’ interference from the presidency, impunity for offenders and state watchdogs who legitimize an otherwise illicit trade, rosewood timber continues to be smuggled into the country from conflict-ridden Casamance and exported to China.
“We have done a good job and submitted it to the right authorities. It is a disappointment that they did not follow through on our recommendations and the report continues to carry dust,” a member of the 2019 panel told Malagen.
The dealers, the routes, and hideouts
Prior to 2016, export of rosewood was controlled by Westwood operated by President Jammeh and his Romanian business partners. Change of government, change of players.
The officials at the ministry of environment told Malagen that export permits have been issued to only three dealers. However, our investigation reveals that at least three times more – or a dozen traders – have been issued permits.
Majority of the dealers are Gambian-owned enterprises. Chinese companies also hold export permits. Multiple sources told Malagen that the Gambian dealers are fronts for Chinese and Indian owners.
Among the dealers, two of the Gambian dealers appear to be Westwood reincarnated. In 2019, the ministry of environment designated Haji Baniko Sissoko and Jagne Narr as ‘export coordinators.’ Like Jammeh’s Westwood, these two were channels through which timber was exported. One of them, H.B Sissoko General Trading and Forwarding, is owned by key a supporter and financier of President Adama Barrow.
Timber harvested from Casamance is smuggled into the country using feeder and dirt roads, according to multiple sources, including villagers, security, and smugglers. The Kanilai-Kampanti axis is said to be the most frequent, though people active in the business identified Dimbaya, Ballen area and Jehnun Kunda as passage routes.
“The smugglers use people on motorbikes to inform them of the locations of military checkpoints so as to evade capture,” a source told Malagen. Often, they steal their way at night.
Through undercover visits and using drones, Malagen has tracked and monitored the activities of the dealers for at least two months. We have traced at least a dozen warehouses in the Kanifing industrial area and hideouts situated in inhabited areas.
From the bushes, the timber products are transported using carts and trucks to landing sites which are dotted across the country. Those meant for exports are either kept at depots or warehouses before they are loaded into containers and taken to the ports.
The hideouts and warehouses are not unknown to the authorities. In moving timber from warehouses to hideouts, the trucks pass through security checkpoints without much scrutiny.
The findings of the 2019 investigation sanctioned by the state indicate that timber moves freely in town because the smugglers bribe government and security officials.
The ‘re’ behind export is a scam
In clear terms, the Forest Act of 2018 bans export of timber from Gambia. The law does not recognise timber from Senegal for export as legitimate. After all, Senegal has banned the export of it, meaning timber cannot be imported from there.
With this restriction, the Gambia places the prefix re before the word export. They call it timber re-export. Or, to put more accurately, ‘timber on transit’ as indicated in the Act, helping dealers and government officials to circumvent the rules.
Under the guise of exporting ‘timber on transit’, the government authorities continue to grant approval to dealers to ship out thousands of containers of rosewood timber. Most approvals are without proper documentation.
Whether it is timber export or export of timber on transit, the illegality of the business could hardly be masked. The law requires a certificate of origin from a third-party country to be produced before approval is granted for export.
Senegal is a no-go area. So, the dealers present certificates claiming the timber they have comes from Guinea Bissau.
However, Bissau has since 2014 banned export of rosewood timber. It was briefly lifted in 2018 for export of some leftover logs and the ban was restored again. Besides, the country has no CITES permit to approve export of rosewood timber.
“All the documents you see about timber [from Bissau] are not legal,” Constantino Correia, a former director of the department of forestry in Bissau told Malagen. Several so-called certificates of origin coming from Bissau and seen by Malagen were purportedly issued by Correia.
“They have been issuing documents in my name but they forget one very important detail, DATES,” said Correia. “I left the Directorate General of Forests and Fauna on the 25th of March 2020. There can be no documents from 2021 still bearing my name as Director General. All documents dated after 25 March 2020 with my name on them are false…”
Where rosewood is to be exported, there is an extra layer of certification. Rosewood is an endangered species, protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES). The international law applies to Gambia and the focal person for CITES, Mawdo Jallow– the deputy director of the Department of Parks and Wildlife– shares Correia’s view.
“The person who should sign off on those documents is the CITES focal point in Bissau. I know him and I have never seen his signature on those documents,” Jallow told Malagen.
A close study of the certificates purportedly issued by Bissau reveals marks of forgery. They do not bear logos. There is discrepancy in the figures. The originals could not be found. At least two sample certificates of origin seen by Malagen issued within the same period have been issued by different people who served at different times.
“The certificates of origin from Bissau are cooked up. The timber is from Casamance here,” a senior official at the environment ministry told Malagen.
Yet, Gambian authorities accepted those documents from the dealers and issued a stamp of approval for them to export timber.
Malagen can confirm that in some instances, the government authorities have issued permits for export of ‘timber on transit’ without certificate of origin from the dealers.
Multiple sources informed us that the timber being certified for export are smuggled from Casamance, not Guinea Bissau, and the authorities are aware of it.
The smoke at the Ports
The port in Banjul is porous. An official inquiry had reported that the security personnel there are prone to bribery by the dealers.
“He attempted to lift what was supposed to be an empty container, but it could not move. He knew something was wrong,” he told Malagen. He does not want to be named
The timber in those containers belong to Saikou Conteh. That was how he was busted, triggering a state investigation. Talking to investigators, Saikou himself recommended more security at the ports. This was not done.
Three years on, the port is visibly overflowing with containers of timber. Barely five months ago, in Nov. 2022, the authorities discovered at least 377 of them.
“These containers entered into the ports without any proper documentation,” a port official told Malagen.
The containers belong to the Swiss international shipping line, MSC. But Masanneh Ceesay, an official of MSC, said the agency did not authorise the use of their containers by timber traffickers.
“We did not give them bookings because we have no authority to export timber,” he said, adding that his office had notified the authorities about it for investigation.
Malagen could not verify the owners of the containers. Nor the source of the timber it contains. But we have been reliably informed that the 377 containers of timbers have been returned to the dealers.
The authorization reportedly came from Minister Lamin Dibba and his permanent secretary, Mbaye Jabang. Both declined to comment.
“Instead of giving the illegal timber to the forestry department to confiscate it, they allowed the very people who put those containers inside the ports to collect their containers and export it,” said a senior official at the environment ministry who spoke to Malagen on condition of anonymity.
This investigation was done in collaboration with Mariama Thiam in Senegal and Dimitri Zufferey in Switzerland with support from CiFAR.
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