The former secretary general, head of the Civil Service and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Tuesday told the Special Criminal Court in Banjul, presided over by Justice Emmanuel Nkea, that he served The Gambia and his boss (the president) with loyalty and he will continue to be loyal to him. Dr Njogou Lamin Bah made this remark while giving his defence testimony in the criminal trial involving the state against him, Lamin AMS Jobarteh, the former attorney general and minister of Justice and Pa Harry Jammeh, the former Solicitor General and Legal Secretary before the said court. During his testimony, while being led by his defence Lawyer L K Mboge, Bah informed the court that he is a resident of Busumbala village in the West Coast Region; and he is currently unemployed but before the commencement of this case, he was briefly the minister of Petroleum and prior to that appointment, he was the secretary general and Head of the Civil Service also doubling as the minster of Presidential Affairs. While reacting to the charges levelled against him one after the other, Dr Bah declared that he is not guilty of the charge of conspiracy, because there was no conspiracy as he did not speak to anybody including his co-accused persons about removing Joseph Wowo from Office. According to him, he issued exhibit E (the directive dated 17th January 2013) by virtue of his position as the secretary general and Head of the Civil Service and (exhibit C) is his cautionary statement on which he still stand by its content on the genesis of exhibit E. He stated that on the charge of giving false information to a public servant, he had denied it before but he will give emphasis to the denial because he had not spoken to anybody about Joseph Wowo’s removal at any given time, adding that he did not abuse his Office as alleged in count three of the charge sheet, because he did not conspire with his co-accused persons to remove Joseph Wowo. He further informed the SCC that when he was being appointed as the secretary general he took three oaths likely; the oath of allegiance, oath of office and oath of secrecy, which are still binding on him whereever he is, adding that these oaths limit or guide his freedom to say certain things in public. Dr Bah adduced that exhibit G (the letter from the Office of the current secretary general) doesn’t not say much, because it is not conclusive and if one wants to look for record in a file using the reference number you may not find it. To this end, he added that there are two different files, as exhibit E has a file reference on exhibit G. He pointed out that on the issue of exhibit E he will refer the court to exhibit A, B and C (their cautionary statements) and that there was a meeting held at State House which led to the issuance of exhibit E. He further testified that he joined the Civil Service eight years ago and started as a Senior Assistant Secretary after which, he climbed up the ladder to the climax as Secretary General. He explained further that during these eight years of service, he served his Office to the best of his ability and his record will speak for itself. He finally stated in his evidence-in-chief that, he served this country and the president to the best of his ability and he has been and will continue to be loyal to him. Meanwhile the case was adjourned to Thursday 31st October 2013 for Dr Bah to be cross-examined by the lawyers for his co-accused persons and the State Lawyer as well.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 20:31:07 +0000
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