An anonymous former Senior Officer of The Gambia National Army yesterday revealed the circumstance surrounding the November 11, massacre of Senior Military Officers by the then Junta government headed by the exiled former President Yahya Jammeh.
Explaining the circumstances to the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission, the witness whose identity is protected revealed that it was a strategy used by the Junta to suppress disgruntled soldiers who were disappointed by the Junta government after assuming office.
He explained that there was no coup plot in November 1994 as widely rumored which led to the execution of more than dozens of Senior Officers.
The executed officers, he said were lined up by Edward Singhatey, Sana Sabally and Yankuba Touray who were presence when the senior officers which included Basirou Barrow and ‘Dot’ Faal were executed among other officers.
He further revealed that some of the officers were executed at Barracks while others were executed and buried at difference places.
“After we succeeded in taking over, it was agreed that the soldiers will rule for 3 months and hands over power to the civilian and that whoever become the leader must work to address the issues affecting soldiers which includes better services, improve salaries, accommodations and transportations among others.
However, after assuming office, the Junta failed in addressing these promises and the Army was left disappointed. This caused serious issues and noises within the force and the Junta was uncomfortable with this and then decided to split the army into factions”
According to the witness, he was not present at the Barracks on that fateful day but was informed, that Edward Singhatey, Yankuba Touray and Sana Sabally, were among the soldiers who lined up the officers for executions.
The witness went further to testify that Momodou Badgie and Colonel Baboucarr Jatta who was the Deputy Army Chief of Defence at that time were also present during these executions.
He recalled that the Chairman of the Council was supposed to be Basirou Barrow who was the most Senior Officer at that time was ill and nowhere to be found when Yahya Jammeh subsequently became the De-facto Leader because he was the Second Senior Rank amongst them.
The witness declined to explain to the commission what had happened to him after the event, the lead counsel at that point in order to protect the identity of the witness suggested to the commission to admit the witness statement.
The witness also furnished the commission a list of people whom he believed were executed by the Junta. He also provided the commission with protected information statement.
“I was briefed on this developments by a soldier (name withheld) as we discussed amongst ourselves to plan a follow up coup on the 22nd of July which we planned amongst others; to convince as much soldiers as possible, break and smuggle arms from the armory and seize any vehicles that comes our way to Banjul”
“We carried this plans as tasked and were able to convince soldiers, arrested others and broke the armory at Yundum, it was like a total chaos, and soldiers stood on the highway seizing vehicles.
I met somebody who has seized a car and I ordered him to drive me on route, you could see civilians dancing and clapping for us, some offering water because they had no idea what was going on” he explained.
He then said that when the group reached Kamalo, they stopped and asked some soldiers to get back to the Barracks to bring out Yahya Jammeh, Sana Sabally and Edward on board who were asked to stay in the Barracks after the July 21st attempt leading to their disarmament.
We deemed their inclusion necessary because we taught our plan was a continuation of where they have stopped; when they arrived we proceeded towards Banjul and met no resistance at the bridge. Suwareh was in command of the TSG attached there and he immediately accepted Yahya Jammeh’s request.
Narrating further, he recalled that the group made a last stop at the Marina Parade just before the State House to contemplate their next step since they were just meters away from the presidential residence.
