Justice
E.O. Dada of the High Court in Banjul yesterday ordered Ebrima Jawara and
Sulayman Manneh to appear in court today, to testify as witnesses in the
ongoing trial involving the state against five former senior Ministry of
Agriculture officials.
The
presiding Judge made the order, following the state’s application to issue
summons for the two witnesses to appear in court.
The
accused persons: Lamin Fatajo, Lamin Mass and Ada Gaye are charged with neglect
of official duty, conspiracy to commit felony, forgery and uttering false
documents.
When
the matter came up, principal state counsel Aminchi Adeyemi told the court that
the remaining witnesses were absent and she submitted that at the last
adjourned date, the state applied that if the witnesses failed to appear
yesterday before the court, a summons would be issued.
Adeyemi
said Ebrima Jawara and Sulayman Manneh gave witness statements to the police,
and she asked the court to direct the summons to the Inspector General of
Police to secure the attendance of the two in court.
Defence
lawyer B.S. Touray did not object to the application, but argued that the
Inspector General of Police has no business with the summons issued by the
court.
He
said the two witnesses had been standing trial by the court under a similar
charge.
Lawyer
Adeyemi, in her response, said the police were the proper authority to ensure
the attendance of the witnesses where the state could not reach them, because
they gave witness statements and the police were the investigators.
She
addressed the summons to the Inspector General of Police for him to forward it
to the investigators.
She
noted that Ebrima Jawara and Sulayman Manneh are standing trial on a different
case, but if they were standing trial on a similar charge, they would have been
charged together and that the evidence they were to give is based on what they
know.
The
presiding Judge said the duo are not standing trial with the accused persons
and, therefore, directed the Inspector General of Police to ensure their
appearance in court today at 2.30pm.
