By Landing Colley
Former former Deputy Commissioner at Customs and Excise Duties (CED) has accused the Commissioner General of Gambia Revenue Authority, Yankuba Darboe, of her unlawful detention at the defunct National Intelligence Agency over news reported by the Kibaro online news.
Testifying before the TRRC on Wednesday, Veronic Carayol said: “my boss Yankuba Darboe instructed me that I should write a list in a form of memo for all the unpaid.” She added that when she received the instruction she told him that “your this memo can create fire in this building.”
According to her, she said she was accused in the Kibaro online news quoting that “harassing, blackmailing businessmen and their agents, un-loyal to President Jammeh, everyone within the department is afraid of me, and she should not be in the department.”
She however accused Yankuba Darboe of writing the article in Kibaro online saying “I suspected that Yankuba Darboe wrote the article. My basic suspicious is that he once instructed me to write a memo about all the unpaid and I responded to him that since you instructed me then I will do it but I was not the one who was at the position. Its Abdou MC Jallow who is in that position to collect those money now you are given me a heavy burden after the department has not been audited for so many years.”
She went on that she went to Yankuba Darboe’s office and told him about the written article on Kibaro online news saying “I remain silent because Yahya Jammeh’s regime, I dare not say anything but I will find out who wrote about this article and take legal action.”
She claimed that she hasn’t done anything wrong and she didn’t see any reason why he (her boss) should write to the media about her as a civil servant.
According to her she later wrote the memo which was signed by Abdou MC Jallow. However, she was later arrested by the NIA as her arrest was eminent after the publication of the article Kibaro online.
She spent 29 days in custody and charged with five counts which included abuse of office, given false information to public servant, unlawful publication, and corrupt practices.