By: Nicholas Bass
One Bakary Drammeh, a police officer attached to the Fraud Squad on Monday testified in the ongoingcorruption trial, involving three top government officials.
It could be recalled that sometime in 2018 and 2020, former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health Muhammed Lamin Jaiteh, manager of the Malaria Control Programme, Balla Kandeh, and Omar Malleh Ceesay, the Executive Director of HePDO were jointly charged with conspiracy to commit a felony, official corruption, economic crimes, theft, and forgery. Muhammed Lamin Jaiteh is also standing trial on a separate charge of disobedience of statutory duty.
Testifying before Justice Ebrima Jaiteh at the Banjul High Court on Monday, the 10th prosecution witness (PW10), Bakary Drammeh, affirmed knowing the accused persons, stating that he knew the 8th prosecution witness Modou Gaye and one Sheriff Corr in a panel that was set to look into the report of the National Malaria Control Program from 1 October 2018 to December 2020. He, however, testified that he could not remember the amount of money that was recovered during the investigation when the director of public prosecution (DPP) AM Yusuf questioned him on the money recovered during the police investigation.
DPP Yusuf put it to Drammeh that the State received monies and 3% of the administrative fee that was equivalent to D266,665.00, to which the witness affirmed that the said monies were paid to the Fraud Squad Office by the administrator and manager of Health Promotion Development Organization (HePDO).
Drammeh told the court that he deposited the said amount to the Central Bank of The Gambia, which gave him a deposit receipt, stating that the said monies were in three instalments following a request letter that was sent to the permanent secretary of the Ministry Health, whichgave the account details with a reply from the permanent secretary.
At that juncture, DPP Yusuf applied to tender the deposit receipts of the said monies that were deposited into the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) as exhibits and his application was granted as defense counsel KaddijatouJallow did not object to the application.
The receipt number 38805 dated 16 June 2023, was marked as exhibit P18, receipt number 388811 dated 6 July 2023 of CBG was marked as exhibit 19 whilereceipt number 38818 dated 7 August 2023 was marked exhibit 20.
The DPP suggested to Drammeh that Modou Gayeaffirmed that over D11M was paid by the National Malaria Control Programme to HePDO. DPP asked the witness if the police recover any payment from the said monies, he replied by saying that seven vouchers from the National Malaria Control Programme to HePDOwere recovered.
”My Lord, we are applying to tender the seven payment vouchers as identified by the witness,” DPP Yusuf submitted to the court.
Justice E. Jaiteh admitted the payment voucher dated 6 December 2018 with a sum of D59,256.00 as exhibit P21A, payment voucher dated 5 July 2019 with the sum of D1,071,960.00 was admitted into exhibit as p21b, payment voucher dated 5th August 2019 with voucher no: 2019/Eco/PC with the sum of D1, O71,960.00 was also admitted into evidence and marked as exhibit p21c.