Fired Drug Agency Boss Likely to Testify Against Intelligence Officers

 

Bun Sanneh, former NDEA Boss

Embattled ex-national drug agency boss facing multiple charges of corruption and drug abuse is likely to testify against NIA operatives accused of torturing anti narcotic officers, who uncovered their alleged illicit drug deal.
Director of Special Litigation D.O Kulo Wednesday filed an application in court for Ebrima Bun Sanneh and Ousman Sanneh, ex-commissioner of operations to testify against the four intelligence officers.
Lamin Darboe, Ebrima Drammeh, Edrissa Jobe and Omar Jammeh all Intelligence officers have allegedly injured Lamin Kabou and Lamin Sima, all anti drug officers, after torturing them using fist blows, electric cables and metals. They denied the charges.
The case resumes June 6.

‘Allegation on Sacked Top Agric. Officials is Speculation’

 



agric Ps on the Right hand



The theft allegation on five former top officials of Ministry of Agriculture is based on speculation, the prosecution admitted on Wednesday at Banjul Magistrates’ Court.
Dr Amadou Sowe, ex-permanent secretary, Abdurrahman Jobe ex-P.S no.2, Mbye Jabang, project manager of Gambia National Agriculture Investment Programme (GNAIP), Bakary L.O Sonko, deputy director, GNIP, and Mustapha Jatta, accounts clerk are alleged to have embezzled sums of money earmarked for the implementation of GNAIP, a five-year agriculture investment plan.
They denied any wrong-doing.
And when Superintendent Joof, who represents the state in the trial Wednesday revealed that investigators are still working on the reports and that the charge is based on speculation, magistrate Alagbe threatened to strike out the case.
“The prosecution can withdraw the case until when they are ready,” said Defense counsel Gaye, noting that another adjournment will be unfair to the accused persons eventhough they are bailed. 
 However, the presiding magistrate subsequently adjourned the case pending the prosecution’s readiness to proceed.

Four Senior Prison Officers Remanded

Four senior prison officers accused of, among others, corruption, are being remanded in jail after Banjul Magistrate’s Court Wednesday denied to grant them bail for fear of interfering with witnesses.
Abdoulie Bojang, Solo Manga, Buba Badjie and Bakary Jammeh have all pleaded not guilty to allegations of destroying evidence, given unauthorised communications to prisoners and corruption.
Abdoulie Bojang, who faces three charges, is said to have removed a cell phone card in a Samsung cell phone recovered from prison, knowing it could be used as evidence in court.
He is also alleged to have introduced prohibited articles in prison – gave cell phone to inmates: Batch Samba Faye and former defense chief Lang Tombong Tamba, a treason convict.
Solo Manga and Buba Badjie are facing similar allegations of providing cell phones to inmates, while Bakary Jammeh, the fourth accused person is alleged to have corruptly received D100 from Ousman Ndow to show favour to Alieu Bah, an inmate.
The Deputy Director of Public Prosecution Abdullah Mikalive said, investigations are still going-on and that more charges are likely to be brought against the accused persons.

Misreading of Culture Leaves Women Suffering in Silence

The misreading of cultural norms and values leaves women suffering in silence from mistreatment by men and even fellow women, said Amie Bojang-Sissoho, programme coordinator of GAMCOTRAP, a women’s rights NGO.  
Mrs Bojang-Sissoho made these remarks recently while addressing over 75 participants in a three-day sensitisation programme on, among others, gender based violence held at Lamin village, Kombo North.
Aside female circumcision, the rights activist said, wife battering, forced and early marriage is also common in The Gambia and is being associated with culture even though it traumatises women, who are accepting it as their fate.  
“Men should not batter their wives because they feel they are men. Any man who thinks that he can do whatever he wants is ignorant. The body of a woman should be respected,” she said.
The rights activist said, women should not be forced into marriage, adding that early marriage is a violation of women’s right.    
“These are dangerous practices that should be avoided inorder for us to shape the future of the girl child,” she said.
Meanwhile, the event which brought together local government authorities, community leaders, women leaders, among others from various villages in Kombo North was organised by GAMCOTRAP.
Jointly funded by Save the Children Sweden and UN Women Trust Fund, the sensitisation is part of the second phase of the project that seeks to accelerate the abandonment of FGM.
GAMCOTRAP is a women’s rights advocacy group that has been fighting, through sensitisation, to eliminate harmful traditional practices, especially FGM, in The Gambia for the past 28 years.

Anti-FGM Crusaders Penetrate Deep into Kombo North

Residents of Kombo North, in the West Coast Region are having their share of the intensifying sensitisation campaign that seeks to eliminate the deep-rooted cultural practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in The Gambia.
 Although significant gains have been made in the crusade against FGM, the practice is reported to be high at places such as Kombo North.  
After concluding a three-day training last week for 75 participants in Sukuta where women resolved to join the campaign, GAMCOTRAP will today wrap up a similar training workshop at Lamin village, Kombo North.
The event brought together local government authorities, community leaders, women leaders, among others from various villages in Kombo North.
It is part of the second phase of the project that seeks to accelerate the abandonment of the practice. It is jointly funded by Save the Children Sweden and UN Women Trust Fund. 
GAMCOTRAP is a women’s rights advocacy group that has been fighting to eliminate harmful traditional practices in The Gambia for the past 28 years.  
 The director of GAMCOTRAP, Dr. Isatou Touray in her address lauded the turnout of the participants describing it as a tangible move to the call to the banning of FGM.
She described the previous training in Sukuta village as successful, noting that more women circumcisers have vowed to drop their knives.
“95 percent of women in the country who were by us sensitized have dropped their knives,” she added.
“We are not forcing people to stop it. We are trying to convince them by sensitising them to know that it is a health hazard and it contravenes the rights of the girl child and that of the woman,” she said.
 Fabakary Manneh, Councilor Lamin ward reminded the participants that each of them is representing thousands of women who all cannot be present at the training. 
“You are required to disseminate the information in your communities,” he told the participants. You should be patient during the training as FGM has left many women’s lives miserable.”
  Ebrima Bojang, the Alkalo of Lamin who gave the welcoming remarks said, women should be outspoken and manifest the implications of the practice inorder to protect more lives in their various areas.
He urged the participants to make good use of the training and transmit what they will be taught into their communities.

UN Women Trust Fund Coordinator Meets Gambian Women Activists

The United Nations Women Trust Fund and EVAW Campaign Coordinator told women activists in The Gambia that the possibility of meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 cannot be attained as long as violence and discrimination against women continues.
Marie Pierre Raky Chaupin made this statement during a meeting with women activists at the GAMCOTRAP office in Kanifing on Tuesday.
“The Millennium Development Goals, which advocates for the promotion of gender equality and Empowerment of women; reduction of child mortality and improvement of maternal health cannot be attained if women are not empowered, ”  she said
Raky, who applauded the efforts of Gambian women activists in advocating for women’s rights said, the UN Women Trust Fund will support in allocating more funds for women’s advancement.
 The UN Women Trust Fund is currently funding GAMCOTRAP’s second phase of the project that is aimed at sensitising the people of Kombo North, in the acceleration of the abandonment of FGM in The Gambia. 
“I am really impressed with the work of  GAMCOTRAP after attending one of the training today, she said.
Raky said, campaigning against FGM is difficult, but once the religious and traditional leaders are informed, it becomes easier for  enactment of laws to follow.
Anta Faal, Regional Program Officer, Save the Children, based in Dakar said, they too lobby funds from governments and NGOs to enable them re-instate other projects.
 Other women leaders including Binta Sidibeh, executive director AGWA, WISDOM, African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies among others outline their mission in the struggle for women’s rights and advancement.

Lt. General Tamba Will Not ‘Die Twice’ But Queries Gambian Judiciary after Sentence

Lt. Gen. Lang Tombong Tamba, former defence chief said, the Gambia’s judiciary needs to be looked into because he doesn’t deserve a sentence for a crime he did not commit.
Tamba’s query came after the Special Criminal Division of the High Court in Banjul found him and Sarjo Fofana, former navy chief guilty on all four counts of treason related charges, eventhough they had denied the charges.
In a suspense-filled climax of a courtroom saga that has obsessed the nation, the eleven month-long trial yesterday ended with a twenty year jail sentence handed down on both men.
Tamba and Fofana were sacked in October 2009 following which they were put under trial for a coup attempt which occurred in 2006.   
The atmosphere which greeted their conviction and sentence was both chaotic and somber.  The former army Lt general was uptight and teary, yet he unsuccessfully managed to calm down a more teary crowed of relatives and sympathisers.      
“I am prepared to die,” the General cried out, attracting the attention of a blend of uniformed and un-uniformed state security personnel who grabbed their former embattled boss with every strength of theirs, put him into the vehicle and whisked him away.
Denied the allegations
Lt Gen. Tamba, who was the deputy chief of defence staff at the time of the 2006 coup, was widely seen as a key figure in the foiling of the attempted coup in 2006 allegedly led by former defence chief, Col Ndure Cham, now in exile.
His lawyer, Sheriff Tambedou said, Tamba was promoted as Chief of Defence Staff and also decorated by the President with MRG because of efforts he did in foiling the 2006 coup attempt.
 “I did everything to foil the 2006 coup,” Tamba himself said, shaking his head after his conviction. “How can I be part of a coup which I foiled.”
And Sarjo Fofana was the chair of the military court - Court martial - which presided over the case  in connection with the coup.

On the trial
Five state witnesses, including two former military men convicted by a military court in connection with the said coup attempt appeared as state witnesses, but refused to testify.
Major Bah, a military officer who had been sentenced to a 25 year jail term after he was found guilty of the said coup attempt - but later freed on a presidential pardon - had also testified as a state witness.
However, the defense counsel of Tamba and Fofana had argued that the state has no evidence against their clients, noting that none of the witnesses linked their clients to the said treason. 
 “The prosecution has proved its case beyond all reasonable doubt and I hereby found the accused person guilty of the charges,” Justice Ikapala, held.
He relied on the testimony of Major Bah and the statement obtained from a treason convict Captain Yaya Darboe by state investigators.
Justice Ikpala agreed on the content of the statement, which he said, states that Tamba and Fofana were involved in the coup attempt.
Lawyers maintained innocence
“Sarjo Fofana did not take any step in the 2006 foiled coup and there is no evidence from the prosecution,” the lawyer for Fofana, Lamin Mboge told court even after the guilty verdict was passed.
He described his client as a finest and a highly responsible gentleman with a wife and children and an extended family who all depend on him.
Lt Gen. Tamba, on the other hand, is a wife to two, a biological father to six and adopted father to fifteen people most of whom are young, according to his lawyer.
He was condemned to death last year alongside seven others, including top security men and business tycoons, also for treason allegations he had denied.
Treason attracts a maximum penalty of death sentence in The Gambia. The presiding judge sentenced Tamba and Fofana as follows: 20 years for conspiracy, 20 years for treason and 10 years for each of the two counts of concealment of treason.
Since the sentences will run concurrently, both men will spend 20 years in jail, unless otherwise.    
However, Tamba is unconvinced that he has done anything wrong and could be heard calling for an overhaul of The Gambia’s justice system, which has come under heavy criticisms over the years.
“Have faith Tamba because one day justice will prevail,” a bloodshot eye old man tried to cheer him up, as if the judge’s decision was unjust.