Amadou Ngum’s witness, Sulayman Manneh, testified before Magistrate Colley that he was the one who introduced Ebou Waka to his younger brother, Amadou Ngum. He stated that Waka is their neighbour and they regard him as their brother.
He posited that Amadou Ngum wanted a meter and he told him he could talk to Waka about the meter. He said that Amadou once told him that Waka had asked him to pay him to provide the meter. He further told the court that Amadou asked him whether it was safe to give Waka money to provide the meter.
“I told him that it was safe and that I trusted him. Waka one day told me that the payment for a meter is D6,500. Amadou then gave Waka D6,500 and I added D500 to the sum which amounted to D7,000,” the witness told the court.
Mr Manneh further testified that it took too long for Waka to provide the meter. “Amadou was worried about the delay and I told him that I will call Waka on the phone. I then called Waka and he told me that they were expecting some meters and asked me to be patient with him. I waited for some time and called Waka to remind him. He said he would call me but he failed to do so,” he stated.
He added that Waka would not pick up his calls when he phoned him. He adduced that he then called his wife and told her about the meter issue. He posited that his wife told him that she would call Waka, which she did, and she later phoned him (the witness) and told him that Waka said he would call him.
“Waka later called me and apologised and asked me to give him time. I told him that Amadou had told me that he had paid for a meter before some of his neighbours and they had received theirs. But Waka assured me that he would get a meter for Amadou,” Mr Manneh narrated.
He asserted that he knew somebody who works at NAWEC. He adduced that he called him after he obtained his phone number. He testified that he told this NAWEC staff to check whether Amadou’s name was in the list of those who had paid for a meter but the NAWEC staff told him that Amadou’s name was not on the list.
“I came across Waka one day near Cooperative area while he was going to the premises of NAWEC and I told him Amadou’s concern about the meter. He again promised that he would provide Amadou with a meter,” he stated.
Mr Manneh said Amadou once told him that Waka had promised him he would send some NAWEC staff to survey the place where the meter should be installed but failed to do so.
Ebou Waka has failed to appear in court since he was served with a summons. The matter was adjourned till 3February 2023, to give him the benefit of the doubt.
