The first prosecution witness, Malick Sanyang, a police officer attached to the police headquarters, was Wednesday cross-examined in the trial involving Mambury Njie, before Justice M. Abdoulah of the Banjul High Court.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel LS Camara, the witness told the court it was a panel that investigated the accused person’s case, and not him in person.
He said he headed the panel that comprised three people and he was the most senior among the three.
He added that during the investigation, they were given a set of guidelines as to what to be investigated.
He said one of the guidelines was who brought the Carnage Mineral Mining Company into The Gambia, which he said was contained in the investigation report.
Asked by the defence counsel whether he could produce that report if given time to, the witness said he could not produce the report, because the said report was sent to the authorities who “are current custodian” of it.
He adduced that it was his superior who instructed him to investigate the matter.
Officer Sanyang disclosed that they were able to discover who brought the Carnage Mineral Mining Company into The Gambia, through the geological department.
The witness was then asked to read the said document, and was further asked where the document came from, and he said it was from the geological department.
“I did not obtain exhibit C, but I was present when exhibit C was obtained,” he stated.
“In November 2012, I was not part of the panel that investigated the accused, but in December 2013, I was part of the panel that investigated the accused person,” he said.
He stated that he knew one Fabakary Kinteh, who is an agent and who works in Banjul.
“I did not record exhibit C and C1 and was not present when it was recorded, adding that the name of the independent witness was not captured in exhibit C and C1.
He admitted that he recorded exhibit C3, but the statement itself was written by the legal practitioner of the accused because the accused was not with his lens.
“I did not know who Majula Ceesay is. She is just called as an independent witness, and I did not know where Majula Ceesay works,” he added.
It was put to the witness that at the time of their investigation they discovered that there was a position called commissioner of petroleum.
“I came to know the position of commissioner of petroleum during the course of our investigation,” he stated.
