Following
the resignation of Alagie Saidy-Barrow, his former deputy Abdou A. Manneh has
been promoted to the position of Director of Research and Investigations for
the TRRC. Mr. Manneh is a police superintendent who has been on secondment to
the TRRC since his appointment as an investigator under the Research and
Investigations Unit in September 2018. Manneh became deputy director following
the departure of Barrow’s former deputy Mansour Jobe, who is now with the Human
Rights Commission. Manneh’s deputy is Jally Senghore, also a senior police
officer on secondment to the TRRC. Both appointments take effect on January 1,
2020.
The
TRRC’s new research director holds a Masters degree in Security Strategies and
Management from the Institute of Security Sciences at the Turkish National
Policy Academy in Ankara, and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB Honors) from the
University of The Gambia Law School. He was called to the Gambian Bar in
January 2015 and enrolled as a qualified legal practitioner in October 2016. As
a Police Superintendent, Manneh previously worked under the Prosecutions and Legal
Affairs Unit of the Gambia Police Force and contributed to drafting the new
Gambia Police Force strategic plan for 2018-2023 as well as the Gambia National
Security Policy. He has also served as part-time lecturer in Constitutional
Law, Contract Law, the Gambia Legal System, Criminal Procedure and Employment
Law at the Gambia Technical Training Institute and the West African Insurance
Institute respectively. At the time of his appointment as investigator for the
TRRC in September 2018, Manneh was already a member of The Gambia’s Technical
Committee on Transitional Justice. He was part of the study tour delegation
that went to South Africa prior to the passing of the TRRC Act.
“Obviously,
Abdou is having to fill very big shoes as a replacement for Alagie Barrow. But
I have no doubt that he and his team will successfully rise to the challenges
ahead and do an excellent job,” said TRRC Executive Secretary Dr. Baba Galleh
Jallow. Former director Barrow’s departure from the Commission has raised some
concerns that the Research and Investigations Unit will not perform well.
However, Dr. Jallow is confident that Barrow’s departure will not prevent the
team from doing its work because that is precisely what Barrow trained them to
be able to do all along. Dr. Jallow also announced that Alagie Barrow is
staying on the TRRC team as Adviser to the Research and Investigations Unit.
“We are happy that he is staying on to assist in an advisory capacity,” he
said. “He’s going and he’s not going. So we are good.”
