By Nicholas Bass
The Director General of the Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA) on Tuesday told the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court that the authority’s human resource assistant has forged letters that bore the head of the Office of the President (OP).
He told the court presided over by Principal Magistrate of the Kanifing Court Omar Jabang that Mustapha Mboob has had his salary stopped as GPPA’s human resource assistant as he undergoes a trial at the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court on four counts of forgery.
GPPA’s DG Phoday M.K. Jaiteh yesterday testified that he received falsified letters from Mboob who, he said, claimed the letters emanated from the OP.
Mr. Jaiteh informed the court that he received a letter from Mustapha Mboob in December of last year, seeking employment with the GPPA.
He explained that the document has the letterhead of the OP. Jaiteh further testified that upon reading the letter, he appointed Mboob as a human resource assistant at GPPA along KairabaAvenue.
Jaiteh adduced that his office received a letter from Mboob on 8 June 2023, demanding a cheque for D100, 000 to buy Tobaski rams for Imams and well-wishers of the President. The letter, he stated, has the letterhead of the Presidency.
Jaiteh explained that he read the letter upon his arrival from Ghana and issued a directive for a cheque of D100, 000 to be given to Mboob.
He, however, told the court that he contacted the Chief of Staff at the OP when he started to have doubts about the entire transaction and that the chief of staff confirmed that the letter was falsified.
“I withdrew and withheld the cheque from Mustapha Mboob,” he adduced.
DG Jaiteh alleged that the letters were signed on behalf of the Secretary-General and the Chief of Staff, adding that in public service, it is normal for an officer to sign on behalf of another officer.
Jaiteh also testified that the accused was given a loan by the GPPA after his appointment but he did not complete paying his loan.
At this juncture, prosecutor ASP Amat Tourayapplied for the letters and a voucher to be admitted in evidence and were admitted andmarked as exhibits.
The particulars of the four-count forgery chargepressed against Mustapha Mboob read that in December of 2022 and June of 2023 at LatriKunda Sabiji in Kanifing Municipality, heforged a document purported to have come from the Office of the President, directing the Director General of the GPPA to appoint him (accused) with immediate effect. He also allegedly demanded Tobaski Rams for Imams and well-wishers, which he (the accused) knew and believed was false.
