By Kebba AF Touray
The Special Select Committee probing the sale and disposal of assets belonging to former President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh has formally requested the Secretary to Cabinet, Alieu Njie, to produce all minutes of Cabinet meetings from January 19, 2017, to date. This request was made during a hearing on Wednesday, 6 August, as the committee intensified efforts to obtain comprehensive records related to the financial dealings and administrative actions during and after the former president’s tenure.
The inquiry was led by Counsel Lamin M. Dibba, who referred to a legal notice marked MoJ 2, which established the Janneh Commission to investigate the former president’s financial affairs. Counsel Dibba directed Mr. Njie’s attention to a letter dated June 30, 2017, listed as the third item in Cabinet meeting minutes. He asked Mr. Njie to explain the contents of the letter, to which Mr. Njie replied, “the letter confirms the appointment approved by the President, of the individuals to serve in the commission.”
Counsel Dibba then read from the document submitted to the committee, stating: “Preliminary reports received from inter alia amongst others the Central Bank of The Gambia, Social Security, Gambia Ports Authority, GAMTEL, etc indicate that substantial funds were either directly or indirectly withdrawn paid out or expended on instruction or directives received from the President, during the tenure in office of the former President Jammeh, sometimes for unknown purposes.”
He asked Mr. Njie if those reports would ordinarily be submitted to Cabinet. Mr. Njie answered, “Ordinarily, I would say yes. It should come to the cabinet.”
At this point, Counsel Dibba formally requested, through the Chairperson of the committee, for Mr. Njie to produce the minutes of all Cabinet meetings held since January 19, 2017. The Chair granted the request but clarified that “the witness is at liberty to indicate the level of risk of the information contained in those minutes and we committee will advise itself on inspection, rather than production.”
During the question-and-answer session that followed, Hon. Omar Jammeh questioned Mr. Njie regarding a letter from the Secretary to Cabinet’s office dated 2019. He asked for an explanation as to why sales of former President Jammeh’s assets had halted, pointing out that some government needs, according to claims, remained unaddressed. Mr. Njie responded, “I have no idea, because I was not holding the position of Secretary to Cabinet, but Charge D’Affairs in London.”
Hon. Madi Ceesay pressed Mr. Njie to clarify who was serving as Secretary General at the time in question. Mr. Njie replied, “I think everybody sees the Secretary General then, that is the current Vice President of the Republic.”
On the issue of a government and commission order regarding some vehicles to be retained, marked MoJ 2, Hon. Jammeh asked: “Could tell the committee whether that was done and the number of vehicle?” Mr. Njie said, “I am hearing this for the first time, and I don’t know if there is a record of that so that I can check but I have no knowledge.”
Hon. Sheriff Sarr questioned Mr. Njie on his statement about contacting the current Vice President regarding involvement in a Ministerial taskforce while the latter was Secretary General and Head of Civil Service. Hon. Sarr stated, “You said he confirmed to you that he has not aware of the taskforce,” to which Mr. Njie responded, “I think he was aware of the taskforce.”
Hon. Suwaibou Touray asked about the status of some vehicles, saying, “You have informed the committee that some of the vehicles not been sold up to now. Are they still being sold?” Mr. Njie replied, “The vehicles are still there. They have not been sold.”
Hon. Madi Ceesay asked Mr. Njie if he was aware that “sales are still ongoing at Kotu Garage, where former President’s forfeited assets are.” Mr. Njie answered in the negative: “I am not aware.”
Earlier in the hearing, Mr. Njie corrected several of his previous statements. Regarding the storage of records on the sales of assets, he initially told the committee they were kept in a general file but clarified, “It is rolling but it has not been very active.” He further corrected that the records are actually stored in the “Janneh Commission file.”
Mr. Njie detailed his roles as Secretary to Cabinet and Head of Civil Service, explaining that these duties include “taking minutes of Cabinet meeting,” as well as overseeing the civil service. He explained the distinction between his role and that of the Chief of Staff, stating, “The Chief of Staff is the head of the Office of the President, and responsible for admin, and myself responsible for the civil service.”
