By Adama Makasuba
Kasamanding Keita, a United Democratic Party supporter has told the Truth Reconciliation and Reparation Commission that her 40 days imprisonment was approved by the chief of Jarra East District, Yaya Jarjusey.
She said because of her arrests and detentions, her husband divorced her, adding that “my arrests and detentions had a serious impact on my adopted child.”
She said that her adopted child was admitted in a hospital while she was under detention, adding that the arrests and detentions impacted on her agricultural activities and that her rice seedlings were burnt despite the fact that she was under detention.
She said she was the UDP Mobilizer at the time in the district and was attached to a polling station in Soma community during the voter registration process for the 2001 presidential elections.
She said that non-Gambians were registered and given voters card which she said to have reported the case to IEC and the matter, adding the case was taken to the Magistrates court in the area.
She said when the case was called she was sick and couldn’t go to court. Therefore, as a result, she said the matter ended there without nothing been done about that matter.
Mrs Keita said that before of the case, her landlord was instructed by Chief Yaya Jarjusey that she should vacate, adding that after vacating the premises, Baba Jobe, the then National Assembly Member for that Constituency came and asked the landlord to allow her back to the compound.
“The landlord told Baba Jobe that it was the Chief who instructed him to send me out of the compound. Baba Jobe then picked the phone and called Chief Yaya Jarjusey asking him to bring a tractor to bring all my belongings from my new settlement. Baba Jobe fueled the tractor and the following morning, my properties were brought back to the house I was occupying,” she said.
She said after sometime, the non-Gambians she summoned before the court also summoned her.
She said “we were brought before the (Magistrates) court and we told them our lawyers were not around. After sometime, the police came for us in the court and took us to the Mansakonko Police Station. We were 11 persons and I was the only female among them.”
She said they were not charged or told the reason for their arrest.
“The following morning, the (ten) men were taken to the Janjanbureh Prisons while I was left at the Police Station. After two days, Chief Jarjusey called the Station Officer (SO) of the Police Station asking him to transfer me to the Janjanbureh Prisons. I heard the SO saying ‘yes sir chief’ while he was taking on phone,” she said.
