Former Crime Management Coordinator of the Gambia Police Force Pa Abibu Mbye Tuesday alleged that the AFPRC Junta were complicit in the murder of former Finance Minister Ousman Koro Ceesay in June 1995.
He made this allegation while testifying as a witness at ongoing Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission’s public hearings.
Appearing before commissioners of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, Former Crime Management Coordinator of the Gambia Police Force Pa Abibu Mbye, Tuesday testified as a witness at the ongoing TRRC public proceedings. His testimony was in relation to the events that led to the July 22nd 1994 military takeover, the abuse of security chiefs arrested in the aftermath of the coup and the assassination of former finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay in June 1995.
In his testimony, the witness adduced that the amalgamation of remnants of the Gendarmerie into the Police and the Army contributed to the 1994 coup as it was established to serve as a counter force to the police and the Army. Further testifying, the witness alleged he was present when former Inspector General of Police Pa Sallah Jagne and Head of Intelligence Kebba Ceesay were made to sit on the floor by junior officers after they were brought to the Police headquarters for interrogation few days after the coup. He also told the Commission, he was ordered by the Junta to lead a team of officers who were assigned to ransack homes of former cabinet ministers of the Jawara administration.
On the infamous assassination of former Finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay, the witness alleged he was reliably informed that council members were not happy with Koro’s decision to include the Junta’s financial discrepancies in his budget speech which he was to present at parliament a few days before his gruesome murder.
Meanwhile, the witness alleged his services was unceremoniously terminated and his dismissal letter was issued to him two weeks later. His only crime being he told Peter Singhateh one of the alleged perpetrators in the Koro Ceesay murder case at the mortuary where a postmortem was carried out on the remains of the former finance minister, that the crime scene suggested there was foul play in Koro’s death and that he Singhateh was complicit in the murder.
Meanwhile, the witness is expected to appear again at a later date to testify on other issues.
BY: Ansumana S.O Nyassi
He made this allegation while testifying as a witness at ongoing Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission’s public hearings.
Appearing before commissioners of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, Former Crime Management Coordinator of the Gambia Police Force Pa Abibu Mbye, Tuesday testified as a witness at the ongoing TRRC public proceedings. His testimony was in relation to the events that led to the July 22nd 1994 military takeover, the abuse of security chiefs arrested in the aftermath of the coup and the assassination of former finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay in June 1995.
In his testimony, the witness adduced that the amalgamation of remnants of the Gendarmerie into the Police and the Army contributed to the 1994 coup as it was established to serve as a counter force to the police and the Army. Further testifying, the witness alleged he was present when former Inspector General of Police Pa Sallah Jagne and Head of Intelligence Kebba Ceesay were made to sit on the floor by junior officers after they were brought to the Police headquarters for interrogation few days after the coup. He also told the Commission, he was ordered by the Junta to lead a team of officers who were assigned to ransack homes of former cabinet ministers of the Jawara administration.
On the infamous assassination of former Finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay, the witness alleged he was reliably informed that council members were not happy with Koro’s decision to include the Junta’s financial discrepancies in his budget speech which he was to present at parliament a few days before his gruesome murder.
Meanwhile, the witness alleged his services was unceremoniously terminated and his dismissal letter was issued to him two weeks later. His only crime being he told Peter Singhateh one of the alleged perpetrators in the Koro Ceesay murder case at the mortuary where a postmortem was carried out on the remains of the former finance minister, that the crime scene suggested there was foul play in Koro’s death and that he Singhateh was complicit in the murder.
Meanwhile, the witness is expected to appear again at a later date to testify on other issues.
BY: Ansumana S.O Nyassi