Counsel pressed her repeatedly on the authenticity of documents central to the Commission’s work, only for the custodian of corporate records to admit that she had not even read many of the correspondences her office submitted.
The issue erupted over MOJ 5A, a document containing 14 companies tied to former President Yahya Jammeh and his associates. When asked directly if her department compiled the list, Mrs. Gomez stated: “Well, it may be from the office, but I cannot tell you.”
Her uncertainty drew visible frustration from counsel, who reminded her that the registrar of Companies is by law the keeper of all corporate filings in The Gambia.
When it emerged that Gomez had not reviewed key documents before her testimony, Counsel put it to her: “So we can say you came here unprepared?” Gomez admitted she had simply copied correspondences from her office without reading them. “Not that I was unprepared,” she defended, citing ill health and time constraints, but her answers did little to reassure the committee.
Perhaps most troubling was her revelation about the state of the country’s archives. Gomez conceded that vital company records may be lost or inaccessible due to leaking roofs, poor storage, and lack of a records officer at the registry. “Some are not even in a good state to present,” she admitted, confirming fears that the government’s case against Jammeh-linked companies could be weakened by administrative decay.
Counsel also raised alarm at apparent failures by the registrar’s office to respond to official letters from Augustus Prom, the court-appointed receiver managing Jammeh’s seized companies.
Gomez claimed she later discovered some of the receiver’s letters during a “thorough search” of cabinets only after being prompted by investigators.
While Gomez insisted her department had retrieved at least skeletal information on 28 companies under investigation, her hesitance, memory lapses, and missing files painted a troubling picture of disorganisation.
The session ended with counsel visibly exasperated. “We expected the registrar of Companies to be fully prepared,” one counsel said, warning that delays and missing records risk undermining the Committee’s mandate.
