Yusupha
Dibba, permanent secretary at the ministry of Defence in Banjul, yesterday
testified in the trial involving the former secretary general, Dr Njogu Bah, at
the Banjul magistrates’ court before principal magistrate Hilary Abeke.
Dibba who was the second prosecution witness told the court that in January 2013, he was the permanent secretary at the ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He knew the accused person in this case through their work, as Bah was at one time the head of the civil service.
The accused person’s position is the highest in the civil service, and permanent secretaries were under his purview.
Dibba further told the court that he was permanent secretary of ForeignAffairs from December 2012 and January 2013, and knew one Jainaba Jobarteh who was an assistant secretary and a cadet officer within the ministry.
Dibba said he received a telephone call from the accused person, indicating that Ms Jabarteh was to be posted to the Gambia’s permanent mission at the UN in New York.
“This coincided with my re-deployment to the ministry of Higher Education. As a result, I conveyed the instructions to my second permanent secretary at the time, Ms Mariama Ndure-Njie, and the permanent secretary Personnel Management Office (PMO), Dawda Fadera.”
Eventually, Ms Jobarteh was posted to New York, Dibba added.
He said such posting in the public service in general is based on an assessment done in-house or by the department concerned based on a potential candidate, after which the submission would be made to PMO to consider the best candidate to be posted to a particular position.
The case was then adjourned to 21 May 2014 for continuation.
The particulars of offence stated that Njogou Bah, sometime in June 2013 at the State House in Banjul, abused the authority of his office as secretary general and head of the civil service by interfering with the recommendation and posting of Ms Jainaba Jobarteh to the Gambia’s permanent mission at the United Nations in New York without following the proper procedure for such nomination, and thereby committed an offence.
