By Kebba AF Touray
Mamadou L. Gassama, Director of the Department of Parks and Wildlife, appeared on Monday, July 21, 2025, before the National Assembly’s Special Select Committee probing the sales assets of former President Yahya Jammeh, and said that his department was never formally handed control of the wildlife in Kanilai, despite a 2017 High Court order vesting such responsibility in his office.
Director Gassama testified that although the Department had made efforts to care for animals in Kanilai, including training caretakers and intervening to prevent further deaths, his office was never officially notified of the court’s order nor given operational control of the park, which remains under the authority of the military.
“I wasn’t aware of this order,” he said in response to Counsel Aji Sai Kah’s inquiry about the May 22, 2017, High Court ruling. “I only heard about it last Thursday when I met investigators here. They told me an order was made, but unfortunately, we’ve never been given this order and we’ve not been informed.”
He told the committee that upon learning of the order, he checked the department’s records and confirmed that no such correspondence was received—not from the Ministry nor AJ Chambers, the legal firm involved in the state’s asset recovery efforts.
Despite the absence of a formal handover, Gassama said the department intervened independently after receiving reports of poor conditions and animal deaths at the park. He cited his commitment to animal welfare as the reason for the department’s action, explaining that “we did a smart move…because doing that has given an impetus in saving animals that are in there.”
Gassama explained that when his team visited the park, they observed hyenas, snakes, hundreds of crocodiles, and a population of zebras which, he said, has grown from 12 to 16 since 2017. He also recalled seeing ostriches and wildebeests during Jammeh’s presidency but noted their absence in recent years.
To stabilise the situation, he said his department collaborated with Gambia Horse and Donkey at Makasutu to train Kanilai animal caretakers in basic wildlife husbandry. “We sent all the people in Kanilai who can read and write to Makasutu to be trained,” Gassama testified.
Eight of those trained were later employed by the Department, following proof of Gambian nationality, and placed at Grade 1 level to ensure they had some job security.
However, Gassama emphasised that access to the park had remained a major challenge. “When you go there, access is a problem. Access was quite a challenge for us. If you go there and advise them to do something, they will do something else.”
He confirmed that the park has remained under military control since 2017, stating, “The Kanilai Game Park is under the soldiers until today. It’s under the Military.”
Asked about the last time the department conducted a formal wildlife inventory, Gassama replied that no such scientific inventory had been undertaken. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do any proper inventory of wildlife,” he said, noting that a proper assessment would require evaluating feeding, habitat, and health conditions—steps that were never completed.
When pressed about the current population figures, Gassama admitted the department does not have accurate numbers. “No,” he replied when asked directly by Counsel Kah if the department had clear data on the number of species at the park.
Kah also asked him to clarify his department’s position regarding two large pythons said to be kept at Kanilai but not under Parks and Wildlife’s custody. Gassama stated that a caretaker familiar with the snakes had been responsible for their welfare for years, and that cultural beliefs associated with the animals led the department to permit the arrangement to continue. “There are a lot of myths and beliefs about those snakes. We don’t want to disturb their cultural activities,” he said.
Throughout the hearing, Gassama reiterated that although the department stepped in to provide technical assistance, feed support, and training, it lacked any legal authority over the park and its inhabitants. “We’ve been doing our best to aid and avail them in keeping these animals in check, so that we can feed them with the basic food that we can,” he said.
The committee continues its investigation into the management and control of assets linked to former President Yahya Jammeh, including the fate of exotic wildlife once reportedly held in private parks.
