The Minister of the Interior, Ousman Sonko, last Thursday told parliamentarians at the National Assembly that investigation into the murder of the late Deyda Hydara, co-publisher and Editor of The Point Newspaper is still ongoing.
The Minister was responding to questions posed by Hon. Sidia Jatta, member for Wuli West constituency, as to what efforts are being made to investigate the death of Deyda Hydara and the disappearance of Chief Ebrima Manneh and Kanyiba Kanyi.
Minister Sonko told deputies that there are challenges because the two key witnesses in the case of Deyda are outside the jurisdiction, and that several attempts to reach them have been unsuccessful.
"Once the investigation is concluded, the culprits will surely be brought to justice," Sonko told parliamentarians.
Commenting on the case of Chief Ebrima Manneh and Kanyiba Kanyi, Interior Minister Sonko, said that the government has investigated their whereabouts, but to no avail.
"Government has even launched an appeal to the public so that anyone who has any information to provide same to the police," he added.
According to Minister Sonko, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice in 2009 also conducted a personal visit to the country's prisons and detention centres of the NIA, together with the leader of the leading opposition party, the UDP party, and the Minority Leader at the National Assembly, in search of missing persons like Kanyiba Kanyi and Chief Ebrima Manneh.
"But they were not in these institutions, and were not also registered in their diaries," adding that these were unannounced visits.
Further asked in which part of the world the two key witnesses are, Interior Minister Sonko said "outside the jurisdiction means outside The Gambia, and they are in the sister Republic of Senegal."
