The DPP was responding to the earlier application made by defence counsel L.K. Mboge for the state to produce the witness statement of Mr Fadera, in the trial involving Dr Ngoju L. Bah, the former Secretary General and Minister for Presidential Affairs.
When the case was called before Magistrate Nyima Samateh of the Banjul Magistrates’ Court, the DPP told the court he wanted the court to discharge the last order the court made for the state to produce the witness statement of Dawda Fadera, which was not in their file.
He said according to defence counsel, L.K. Mboge, one of the state witnesses told the court that the witness statement of Dawda Fadera was in their file, which he was not aware of.
In response, defence counsel L.K. Mboge told the court that it was the same prosecution who requested for the notice to be filed, and the document was filed and served to the prosecution.
He said his last application made at the last court sitting was just a reminder for the document to be served to the defence for the purpose of cross-examination of PW3.
He said the first prosecution witness, Samba Sillah, told the court the witness statement of Dawda Fadera and his witness statement were in the file.
He said the order was not a fresh one, but a reminder to help the court to reach a just conclusion in the case, noting that since the filing of the document the state had not served the defence for the purpose of cross-examination.
However, the director of public prosecutions disagreed with that, saying that none of the state witnesses said the witness statement of Dawda Fadera was in their file.
He said the defence counsel knew fully what to do when a counsel needs a document from the state.
“We will try our best; if the document is in the state file we will surely serve him, but we did not promise him,” he said.
The case is adjourned to 14 October 2014 for the hearing to continue.
Dr Njogu Bah was alleged to have, sometime in January 2013 at 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 of nomination, and thereby committed an offence.
