More prosecution witnesses continued to testify in the false information case involving Mambanyick Njie, former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, at the Banjul Magistrates’ Court before Principal Magistrate Taiwo Ade Alagbe.
Testifying as the third prosecution witness was one Bakary Dahaba alias Terama, administrator at the Gambia Football Association (GFA).
Dahaba told the court that he resides at New Yundum village in the West Coast Region, and that he recognised the accused person as a former permanent secretary attached to the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
“Sometime in May 2012, I was called at the fraud squad at police headquarters in Banjul and, on my arrival, I found some of my colleagues, regarding some malpractices and the GFA finances,” he said.
“During the investigation at the fraud squad, I realised that my name had been mentioned by the accused person relating to lack of retirement of imprest for a particular trip to Equatorial Guinea, and I was asked to write a statement, which I did,” Dahaba told the court.
He said he had never received any imprest from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, but instead an allowance.
“I am an administrator, and since 2005 to 2009, I was attached to the national team. I remember one time travelling to Equatorial Guinea as an advance team before the arrival of the team, and I was given an allowance of 800 Euros by the Gambia for Gold for five nights,” Dahaba told the court.
“As an administrator, I am not aware of any financial mismanagement at the GFA,” he continued.
“My role as an administrator, among other things, was to send correspondence to foreign-based players as committed by the coach, as well as to inform the ministry about the plans and activities of the national team,” he explained.
He said during the course of the investigation, he wrote a statement to the police.
Asked by the prosecutor, Sergeant Manga, whether he had any opportunity to lay his hands on the petition letter during the course of investigation of the case, Dahaba told the court that he never saw the petition.
Under cross-examination by the defence counsel, Antouman Gaye, he was asked how long he had been an employee of GFA, and Dahaba said since November 1990, when he was appointed as regional coordinator.
He added that he had never been a trainer of the team before being appointed, and had been an administrator since 2005 to date, running the day-to-day affairs of the GFA.
Asked whether he was qualified as a coach, Dahaba told the court that he is qualified because he had attended the courses conducted by FIFA and the GFA in The Gambia from basic to advanced levels.
Further asked whether the 800 Euros given to him was part of the air ticket, he said it did not include the air ticket, and it was only accommodation and feeding before the arrival of the team.
He added that he could not remember the hotel he stayed because he had been travelling with the team many times, and for most of his travels, he was never at any one time accountable for the allowance given to him.
Dahaba added that the allowance given to him was private, and it was left to his discretion how to spend the money.
The case was then adjourned till 3 December 2012.
The particulars of offence stated that Mambanyick Njie, on 1 March 2012 in Banjul, whilst serving as Permanent Secretary, Youth and Sports, wrote a petition to the Office of the President stating that the ex-Gambia Football Association (GFA) Executives were engaged in malpractices and never gave a thorough account of the imprests given to them for international matches and, therefore, sought approval to dissolve the said GFA Executive, information he knew to be false or did not believe to be true.
