High court official unaware his staff was enforcing state orders

The curtain was pulled back on an unusual chain of events involving the enforcement of court orders related to former President Yahya Jammeh’s assets.

One of the revelations during his appearance was the unauthorised participation of his subordinate, Modou Musa, a bailiff in the judiciary who was found working as a de facto enforcer on a Ministry of Justice taskforce, apparently without the knowledge or approval of the very office he was employed under.

“It is not usual for the Sheriff to be co-opted into any taskforce,” Tabally explained. “This is an exceptional circumstance. I don’t know how he came to be identified.”

According to Justice Tabally, the Office of the Sheriff is typically responsible for serving and enforcing court orders, often upon notification from the Principal Registrar of the High Court. However, in this case, Mr Sisi was reportedly accompanying Ministry of Justice officials specifically Registrar General Alieu Jallow on missions to serve eviction and seizure notices based on High Court orders, bypassing formal structures and oversight.

Asked whether he ever queried Mr Musa’s activities or raised concerns with the Ministry, Justice Tabally candidly responded: “No, unfortunately no. I did not. I thought because he was doing a service in the name of the state, that’s all.”

Justice Tabally, emphasised that this was the only known instance of such a breach during his tenure.

The counsel highlighted that the Ministry of Justice had formally listed the Office of the Sheriff as a stakeholder in the taskforce. Yet, the Sheriff himself maintained he was not aware such a taskforce officially existed at the time.

“The establishment of the taskforce itself I was not even aware formally, officially,” he told the committee.

The case revolves around two seizure notices dated June 1, 2017, both relating to assets formerly associated with ex-President Jammeh. While one notice was requested by the Registrar General, the other came from representatives of Augustus Prom, both allegedly without written communication - an irregular but, according to Justice Tabally, not unprecedented practice.

The former Sheriff explained that verbal instructions were often sufficient under his office's operational norms, adding that “it is the mandate of the Sheriff to assist in the implementation of court orders” regardless of whether a written request exists.