By Mamadou Dem
Mr. Mumine Sey, current president of The Gambia National Transport
Control Association (GNTCA), yesterday, 8 April, testified against Mr.
Ousman Drammeh, President of the Gambia National Agriculture and
Industrial Workers Union, who is facing trial before Magistrate Fatou
Darboe of the Banjul Magistrates’ Court.
Mr. Drammeh is charged for “Giving False Information” to the secretary
general and head of the civil service, contrary to section 114 of the
Criminal Code. He denied any wrong doing.
The President of the Gambia National Agriculture and Industrial
Workers Union is alleged to have written a petition to the Secretary
General in which he indicated that the GNTCA president (Mr. Sey) and
GNTCA secretary general (Sheriff Dibba) connived with some senior
police officers to forcefully remove Fillijeh Nyassi as president of
the association and that Mr Sey engaged in financial malpractices and
liberalization of foreign trucks over Gambian own trucks and which
police investigators believe is unfounded and misleading.
In his evidence in chief, Mr. Sey, who spoke in the Wollof language
through an interpreter, described the contents of the petition as
‘untrue and unfounded.’
PW3 recalled that while he was in his office in June last year, he
received a telephone call from the police asking him to come to their
headquarters in Banjul which he did. Upon arrival at police
headquarters, he said, he was informed about the petition of the
accused against him as well as the contents of the petition.
The GNTCA president explained to the court how Mr Nyassi was removed
from office and how he replaced him as the president of the union.
“Mr. Nyassi was removed from power by the consent of the general body
of the association. He was audited and found guilty of financial
misappropriation and the union decided to select an interim president
before election was conducted in 2001 and I was voted as the
president of the union. I have never collected any money from any car
parks within KM as alleged by the accused and I was not the president
of the union for the past fifteen years as also alleged by the
accused. The union has never ever liberalized foreign trucks over our
own Gambian trucks.
These allegations are untrue and baseless,” said Mr. Sey.
He told the court that GNTCA was founded in 1993.
At this juncture, the matter was adjourned to 20th April for
continuation of cross-examination of the witness by the accused.]]>
