The
criminal trial involving the state and five ministry of Agriculture officials
charged with 18 counts of neglect of official duty, conspiracy to commit felony,
forgery and uttering false documents Thursday 10 November 2016 appeared before
Justice E. Dada at the High Court in Banjul.
The
accused persons were alleged to have, between May 2013 and December 2014 in
Banjul and in diverse place in The Gambia, neglected their official duties by
awarding contract for the training of FASDEP staff on macro soft Excel in the
sum of D190,000 to a firm (SCENSA) that was not registered with the Gambia
Public Procurement Authority (GPPA) Act as required under the GPPA Act.
During
the last sitting, the prosecution led by state counsel A. Mendy called the
third prosecution witness, O. Jallow, a police officer attached to the fraud
squad at police headquarters in Banjul, who testified that he knew the accused
persons.
The
witness told the court that he obtained the voluntary statements of the 3rd and
4th accused persons, Alieu Gaye and Bakary Kujabi, in the presence of an
independent witness.
The
said statements were admitted and marked as exhibits.
Responding
to questions posed by defence counsel E. Sanneh, the witness said he could not
remember the charge against the 3rd and 4th accused persons.
He
added that he read the cautionary wordings to the accused persons, but the
accused persons denied the allegations leveled against them.
At
this juncture, state counsel A. Mendy informed the court that he intended to
call many witnesses, but unfortunately most of his witnesses are security
officers who are now stationed in various parts of the country as a result of
the election.
He,
therefore, urged the court to grant him an adjournment anytime from 4th
December 2016.
The
presiding Judge, however, adjourned the matter until 8 December 2016.
