The SS Committee detected that while the Commission was investigating ex-president Yahya Jammeh’s assets of luxury vehicles, a Rolls-Royce allegedly eyed by an Arab businessman for $1 million was quietly being lined up for sale under suspicious circumstances.
Kurang testified that he was stunned when he saw advertisements suggesting that Jammeh’s luxury vehicles were already being listed for sale while the Commission was still doing its work. Acting on the commissioners' instructions, he wrote multiple letters to the Ministry of Finance seeking an explanation but never received a formal response.
When he followed up in person, Kurang explained, he was told by a senior official that the Finance Ministry was acting on the advice of the Commission’s own lead counsel, Amie Bensouda, a claim he found deeply troubling and “a conflict of interest”.
Kurang told the SS Committee and other lawmakers: “I clearly remember a day when Mrs Bensouda mentioned that an Arab businessman was prepared to pay a million dollars for a Jammeh Rolls-Royce.”
He revealed that the Permanent Secretary at the time, Lamin Camara, reportedly distanced himself from the decision, telling Kurang in Mandinka: “I have not been stung by a scorpion on my head,” meaning he wasn't crazy enough to sell assets under investigation. Yet the sale attempts reportedly continued driven by advice from within the Commission itself.
Kurang added that Camara reportedly claimed that the instructions were coming from the Minister of Finance, who, in turn, was acting on the advice of the Commission’s own lead counsel - Amie Bensouda.
This revelation struck Kurang as a clear conflict of interest, he said. "How can the same counsel who is prosecuting and guiding the investigation also advise the executive to dispose of the very assets still under scrutiny?" he asked rhetorically.
Kurang confirmed the vehicles, including the Rolls-Royce, were visited, recorded, and under active investigation by the Commission. While some assets were eventually meant to be auctioned, he recounted, doing so during an ongoing probe without clarity on ownership or court approval undermined the Commission's credibility.
“Those vehicles were under investigation,” Kurang emphasised. “We took notes. They were not just any government vehicles.”
While the law grants certain powers to government departments to manage state-owned property, Kurang said he was clear that these luxury vehicles were not in that category - “at least not yet”.
“We were still determining ownership whether they were state assets or personally acquired by the former president,” he said. “Until that was clear, none should’ve been touched.”
He hinted at a broader pattern where the executive arm, emboldened by internal legal advice, tried to outpace the Commission’s work by moving to liquidate high-profile assets prematurely.
“I saw letters come in offering to buy planes, tractors, and other things. But those were meant to be auctioned after proper legal process, not through secret negotiations,” Kurang countered.
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