Ebrima Jawara faces fresh charge

However, Ebrima Jawara denied any wrongdoing.

The latest charge sheet against him presented in court stated that Ebrima Jawara, on 24 November 2015 at the Central Project Coordinating Unit office (CPCU) situated at the Ministry of Agriculture in Banjul, without lawful authority, changed the locker of the project coordinator’s office, and thereby committed an offence.

The prosecuting officer, Cadet ASP Bah, told the court they took the case to court for mention.

He pointed out that the prosecution was not opposing bail for the accused person, as bail is at the discretion of the court to grant bail to any accused person who is paraded before the court.

In response, defence counsel Momodou Musa Drammeh told the court that the offence under which the accused person was charged with was bailable.

The accused person was the former Rural Finance Project coordinator, who had served the country to the best of his ability as a good citizen, counsel added.

He cited section 99 of the Criminal Procedures Code and section 24 of the constitution, adding that the charge before the court is a misdemeanor.

For the case before the high court, he said, he had been granted bail.

“The accused person is a family man who is married with children, so he poses no flight risk as to whether he would flee from the jurisdiction,” he said.

Delivering his ruling, the trial magistrate told the court that the accused person was charged with punishment for malicious injuries in general, under the Criminal Procedure Code.

The offence the accused was charged with is a bailable one, he said, and consequently granted the accused person bail of D50,000 with two Gambian sureties.

The bail condition further stipulated that one of the sureties must swear to an affidavit of means.

The case was then adjourned until 29 December 2015, for trial.

It would be recalled that Ebrima Jawara is also under trial at the high court in Banjul on charges of abuse of office and economic crime.