Nelson Manneh
Ensa Mendy, a former personal guard and orderly to Yankuba Touray has on Thursday, 24th October continued giving his testimony before the Banjul High Court.
Yankuba Touray is a former Minister of Local Government and Lands under the defunct AFPRC government from 1994 to 1996. He is facing a single charge of murder of Ousman Koro Ceesay, a former Minister of Finance under the military Government in 1995. Touray has pleaded his constitutional immunity and the prosecution when the charge of murder was proffered against him. Ensa Mendy, who is the second prosecution witness, said he was the orderly and the personal body guard to Yankuba Touray.
Appearing before Justice Ebrima Jaiteh, Mendy said his former boss – Yankuba Touray sent him together with his home guards on a patrol along the beach. He said they did not see anything as suggested by Touray. He said when he called Touray and informed him that they did not see any eminent threat, Touray instructed him to continue with the patrol and they must not come back until he ask them to do so. He said a while later, Touray called him and asked him to come back.
He said when they returned to Touray’s residence, he entered inside the compound and saw him coming from the sitting room. He added that the accused person passed him and went inside his bedroom and closed the door.
The witness said the accused person’s (Yankuba Touray’s) bedroom door is just opposite the room where he used to sleep as an orderly.
Mendy said he observed that the house was wet including the sitting room.
“On the entrance of the sitting room, I saw the accused person’s uniform lying on the ground and then I observed it and I saw blood on the side pocket,” the witness said.
Mendy said he then said to himself that something was happening here. Then he went back to his room and went to bed.
The witness said in the morning, he prepared himself and left for work with his former boss.
Mendy said in the morning, he heard the rumour that the then Minister of Finance Ousman Koro Ceesay has been killed and some were saying that he was killed at Touray’s residence.
The witness said it was not part of his duty as a body guard to the accused person to be sent on a patrol.
During cross-examination, Lawyer Abdoulie Sisoho put it to the witness that he has never been appointed as a body guiard to the accused person.
The witness said he was given a weapon to protect the accused person and also served as the orderly to the him (accused person).
Mendy narrated that when he was called to the Late Basiru Barrow’s residenc,e he was told that he will be the accused person’s body guard and also served as his orderly.
Yankuba Touray is charged with one count of murder contrary to section 187 of the Criminal Code. The particulars of offence alleged that Yankuba Touray sometime in the month of June 1995 at Kololi in the West Coast Region of The Gambia with malice aforethought caused the death of one Ousman Koro Ceesay by beating him with a pestle-like object and other dangerous weapons thereby committing an offence. The accused was arraigned before this Court on the 8th day of July 2019 and he refused to take his plea and entered a plea of constitutional immunity.
The matter was adjourned to 4th of November 2019 for the continuation of cross-examination of PW2 and for further hearing.
