Former Lands and Local Government minister Lamin Waa Juwara was again arraigned on Thursday before Magistrate Janneh of the Brikama Magistrates’ Court charged with abuse of office.
Juwara was on Tuesday discharged by the court, which struck out the case because the prosecutor was not in court by 9 am, when proceeding begin, and there was no representative of the prosecution in the courtroom.
When the case was called Thursday, Chief Inspector Camara, the police prosecutor, applied to tender a letter of consent from the Attorney General’s Chambers ordering the police to prosecute the case.
The letter was admitted and marked as an exhibit without any objection from the accused person.
The charge sheet read in court stated that former minister of Lands Lamin Waa Juwara sometime in 2012, at Sinchu Gidom village in the West Coast Region, being an employee of the Gambia Government as minister of Local Government, Lands and Regional Administration, abused the authority of his office in a manner prejudicial to the Alkalo (village head) and the elders of Jamburr village by creating Sinchu Gidom as a village and appointed one Baboucarr Sillah as an Alkalo of the said village, knowing that Sinchu Gidom is a Kabilo within Jamburr village.
Juwara denied the allegation and was granted court bail of D150,000 with two Gambian sureties, and one of whom should deposit the title deed of a landed property within the Greater Banjul Area.
The accused was also ordered by the court to surrender all his travel documents to the court registrar.
The case continues on 8 October 2014.
