By Adama Makasuba
The Attorney General has written to request for a coroner inquest on the mysterious death of late Gambia’s ambassador to the United States, Dawda Fadera.
Mr Fadera died last Sunday at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul after a short illness. But there has been suspicion that he was poisoned.
Meanwhile, a letter signed by a senior official of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, Hussein Thomasi stated that: “following circumstances which raise a reasonable suspicion with regard to the cause of death of the person, the Honourable Attorney General acting under section 11 of the Coroners Act CAP 7 Laws of The Gambia, would like to request your Lordship to order an inquest touching on the death of Dawda Fadera (deceased).”
“As a Magistrate of the First Class in the City of Banjul, His Lordship, the Honourable Chief Justice has designed you as the Coroner to inquire, in accordance with the Coroner Act Cap 7:1, Section 11 (1) (a) Laws of The Gambia into the cause of death of His Excellency Mr. Dawda Fadera, the late Gambian Ambassador to the United States of America, reported to have occurred on Sunday, the 20th February 2022 at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in the City of Banjul,” an excerpt of the letter addressed to the magistrate dated 21st February, 2022, signed for Hon. Chief Justice reads.
Dawda Fadera who passed away at Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, worked at the Permanent Secretary at the Personnel Management Office (PMO), where he directed and facilitated civil service recruitment, placement, and capacity development, workforce budgeting, promotions, discipline, institutional development, and reform programs at both the policy and operational levels.
He was Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service before he was appointed Ambassador. He was the Board Chair of the National Records Services and Management Development Institute during his term in the Gambia’s administration, as well as the contact person for the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC), on interventions in the public sector.