Appearing before the committee, Mr. Saidyba was questioned by Hon. Omar Jammeh, who pressed him on multiple accounts of alleged irregularities surrounding vehicle transfers from the State House.
When asked whether he had ever received D50,000 from a military officer said to be acting under the instructions of one Sgt. Jagne, Mr. Saidyba responded, saying: “It never happened.”
Hon. Jammeh further inquired whether the witness had met any military personnel at night for a financial transaction.
Saidyba replied, “No, absolutely not.”
Hon. Jammeh presented a list of names, seeking to establish possible connections. Saidyba admitted knowing only one of them but denied any meeting or financial dealings with Sgt. Jagne, or others allegedly linked to the transactions.
The discussion later shifted to the movement of white buses from the State House. Hon. Jammeh suggested that over ten buses had been transported to Kanifing using a crane, citing multiple witnesses who confirmed the transfers.
Saidyba, however, stood his ground. “Jagne has never moved any white bus from State House, the only white bus that was moved was during the Presidential tour.”
He admitted authorizing the movement of only four buses B1, B2, B3, and B4 and explained that one of them was later involved in an accident during the 2018 tour and was eventually sold in 2019 after being deemed irreparable.
But Hon. Jammeh challenged this version, insisting that witnesses testified about seeing more than ten buses being towed by a crane from the State House to Kanifing, a claim Saidyba dismissed as untrue.
When pressed for records confirming his authorization of only three or four buses, the witness admitted he had no written documentation. “No, I don’t have any record of that,” he said, explaining that he acted under the instruction of the Commission. “The Commission authorized me to move them because they could not assign them to any government institution since they were not good.”
Hon. Jammeh stated: “You said earlier these people were not working under you, but now you say you believe you work with them. What is the difference here?”
Saidyba defended himself, insisting he worked collaboratively with military personnel who provided crane services but that they were not under his direct command. “If I need the service of the crane, I just inform them, and they come and do the job,” he said.
