(Issue Monday June 27, 2016)
Lamin
Jallow, a senior waiter who was charged with stealing by clerk or servant along
with Almami Ceesay, Maimuna Touray and Gibril Jatta, was on 21 June 2016
cross-examined by Sergeant 544 Jaiteh before Magistrate Abeke at the Kanifing
Magistrates’ Court, after the end of his testimony.
Police
prosecutor Jaiteh asked for how long he worked at Kombo Beach Hotel, and Jallow said he worked there in 1987 and
left in 1992; came back in 1997 and served until 14 November 2014.
Asked
in what capacity he was employed at the hotel, Jallow said he worked as a
waiter.
Asked
in what capacity at the time of the incident, he said he was a senior waiter.
He
was also asked under whose supervision he worked, and answered that Almami
Ceesay was his supervisor at the time of the incident.
Asked
how many of them were responsible for breakfast in the hotel at the time, he
said Wandifa Kanyi, Hatib Badjan, Maimuna Touray and himself were responsible
for breakfast, and Almami Ceesay was serving as a cashier.
Asked
whether he witnessed any guests who came to have breakfast in connection with
the incident, Jallow said he did not.
Almami
Ceesay then asked Jallow when the incident happened, and he said he was
informed on Saturday that the incident happened on Friday.
Ceesay
again asked whether he (Almami) was present on the said Friday, and Jallow said
Almami was not present because he was not on duty.
Asked
to whom the guests paid, since he (Almami) was not on duty, Jallow said,
according to the guests, they paid to a cook.
Ceesay
again asked Jallow who the supervisor was during the incident, and he said it
was Gibril Jatta.
When
it was her turn to ask questions, Maimuna Touray said she has no question for
Lamin Jallow.
Gibril
Jatta then asked Lamin Jallow from where they were taken when they were taken
to the police for identification parade.
Jallow
answered that Almami, Maimuna and himself were taken from Kombo Beach Hotel.
Asked
why he (Gibril) was excluded, Jallow said because Gibril Jatta was on afternoon
shift.
In
her testimony, Maimuna Touray told the court that she lives at Latrikunda
German.
She
added that she is a hotel worker, and knows the other accused persons, as they
were her colleagues.
On
a Saturday 14 November 2014, they were serving breakfast when she was asked to
go and answer to the Personnel Manager, Amie Conteh, at the F&B office.
She
adduced that when she went there, she met the F&B manager, Amba Barry, his
assistant, Fama Sanneh Samura, and the personnel manager.
Amie
Conteh told her that she received a complaint from her boss, Mack, that some
guests from Bakotu Hotel came to Kombo Beach Hotel and had breakfast.
Amie
Conteh asked whether she saw the guests, and she told Amie Conteh that she did
not.
Amie
Conteh asked her about the work she was doing at the restaurant, and she told
Amie Conteh that she did clearing, setting and serving coffee and tea. Amie
Conteh then asked her to go and continue her work.
She
further told the court that she was off duty on Sunday; reported for work on
Monday and was not told anything.
On
Tuesday, while she was on her way to work, they called her and asked her to
report to the Kotu Police Station.
At
the police, she met some guests seated there and they were six to eight in
number. Amie Conteh then told her the guests were brought to the police
station, so that an identification parade could be conducted for the guests to
identify the person to whom they paid the money.
One
of the male guests stood up and pointed at Almami, and said he paid to him.
Then one police officer, called Kandeh, told her and Lamin Jallow to leave.
When
they went back to the hotel, Amie Conteh called them into her office and said
the General Manager has sacked them and issued them with dismissal letters.
Amie
Conteh told them that they were implicated by Almami Ceesay, who said all of
them received their share of the money which was paid.
Under
cross-examination, Almami Ceesay said that since Maimuna stated that she did
not see the guests at breakfast, and they were paraded four days after the
incident, then he has no questions for her.
However,
Almami asked who bailed them together at the police station.
She
replied that nobody bailed her together with the other accused persons, but
Almami put it to her that a senior colleague, Secka Faye, bailed them at the
same time and all of them went out together.
She
said this was not true, and that she was bailed by her daughter.
Lamin
Jallow then asked her whether the guests mentioned the days he paid to Almami,
and she said the guests said they paid for six days, adding that on the Friday
Almami was off duty, the guests said they paid to a cook.
Lamin
Jallow asked Maimuna again whether there were some cooks who were paraded for
the guest to identify the cook they paid to.
In
response, she said they called Gibril Jatta, and when Gibril Jatta was
presented to the guests. They said they did not pay to him, but they paid to a
cook who was wearing a white shirt and a white hat.
At
this juncture, Gibril Jatta said he has no questions for Maimuna.
The
case continues today.
