By Kebba AF Touray
In his second appearance before the legislative special select committee on the sale and disposal of assets identified by the Janneh Commission, the Registrar General, Abdoulie Colley, told lawmakers that he did not inherit any record of inventory of assets found in Kanilai from his predecessor.
Mr. Colley made the disclosure on Thursday, August 28, 2025, while testifying in the ongoing probe into the assets of former President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh. During his first appearance, he had been directed to produce certain documents, including records from the Ministry of Justice regarding the taskforce established by his predecessor, following a High Court Order issued on May 22, 2017.
“As far as what I can recollect during the first appearance I was asked to produce the memo that was issued by Mr. Tah to myself and I think the submission that I made was clear,” Mr. Colley said.
Counsel Aji Saine Kah reminded him that the committee had requested three separate sets of documents: correspondence between the Ministry, the High Court and the commission, as well as information regarding the taskforce. She pressed further: “Did you or did you not find it?”
Mr. Colley replied that he had a couple of documents that might be useful to the committee. He handed over two documents, in total, before adding that he had also been asked to compile a list of companies affected by the High Court Order of May 2, 2017. That order placed all immovable assets under the custody and control of the Registrar General’s office.
Shown two letters, Counsel Kah reminded him that he had previously told the committee that, following his appointment, there had never been a time when he worked with the commission regarding former President Jammeh’s assets.
“Yes. That is correct. I can’t remember doing anything,” Mr. Colley said.
When pressed whether it was possible he might have done some work but forgotten, he answered: “Is possible, but in terms of doing the actual compilation or doing anything regards to immovable assets. Is a possibility, but I cannot remember.”
Counsel Kah asked whether he remembered receiving any letters from the commission. At that point, the committee referred him to two documents marked RS59 and RS60. Asked to read them, Mr. Colley said he had not seen them before, including RS59, dated January 2019.
He confirmed that the letter was addressed to the Acting Registrar General. Asked who held that position at the time, he replied: “I was Acting Registrar General, but I have never come across this correspondence.”
When pressed further on who would ordinarily receive such a letter, Mr. Colley said it should have been sent to his office, but could sometimes pass through the Solicitor General before reaching the Acting Registrar General. “I was Acting Registrar General this period but I have never come across this document,” he said.
Counsel Kah suggested that the letter may have been received by the central registry and diverted to the Solicitor General, never reaching his desk. Mr. Colley agreed that was a possibility. “If we don’t have then the Solicitor General should have it, and if it is sent to the Ministry, it should be on our records,” he said.
After reading the letters, Mr. Colley told the committee: “It shows letter was not acted upon,” while maintaining that he had never received it.
“So, can we say that the commission never received information it was looking for?” Counsel Kah asked.
“I am not sure,” Mr. Colley said, though he offered to follow up at the Registry.
At that point, Counsel Kah applied through the committee for him to “search and produce copy of the response the Attorney General Chambers wrote to the Commission regarding the second letter.” The committee accepted her request and ordered Mr. Colley to produce the copy by Monday.
Counsel Kah then asked directly: “Does the Registrar General’s Department have a copy of a report or an inventory of stock that was found in Kanilai?”
“No,” Mr. Colley replied.
When pressed further to clarify whether his predecessor had conducted an inventory, he said: “No. I didn’t inherit any file where list is included. There is no such record.”
