Regional
police commissioner at West Coast, Kint Menday, who testified before the TRRC
yesterday disclosed that in 2009 witch hunting parade at the police
headquarters in Banjul, policemen were asked to swear allegiance under a
slathered cock for the former president, Yahya Jammeh.
Explaining
how that came about, witness narrated that in 2009, as he was a registrar, the
then Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ensa Badjie, called him in his office
where he found four to five men who were dressed in big traditional trousers,
with red clothes, holding horn, calabashes and mirror plates. “I was able to
recognise Commissioner Edu Sambou.”
Upon
arrival, he testified that one of them pointed something at him and looked in
the mirror, while asked him to follow them to conduct a search on him, but he
said nothing was found with him.
“The
IGP led them to other offices and asked me to take names of anybody pointed as
a witch. They were drumming and incarnating as they moved into offices. Chief
Superintendent Yaya Darboe was pointed as a witch in his office at the personal
unit.”
Witness
continued that Mustaph Ceesay, Yaya Darboe, Yusupha Saine, Comissioner Pa
Silver were equally pointed with FRI Jammeh and Kumba Jatta as well.
After
identifying some, he said that the IGP demanded for fall-in and the witch
hunters were as well chanting and searching for witches.
“The
witch hunters were there with a cock that was slaughtered and all of us who
were there would go and swear allegiance to the former President Jammeh. Each
individual would go to the place where the cock with blood was lying and said:
“I swear my allegiance to the president.”
The
witness who is a native of Mbollet Ba, further indicated that at the parade
ground, the IGP said all identified as witches should on board the witch
hunters’ car because they were to be given something to drink.
Mendy
lamented that at that juncture, Mustapha Ceesay and Yaya Darboe refused to go,
while Ceesay was demoted and taken to the provinces for noncompliance.
“I
heard that those taken were given something to drink. As a result of that, I
had that Kumba Jatta was vomiting and he was not fine at all because he was
always identified as witch, which affected him psychologically.”
