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Gambia News : Omar Ndow Acquitted on One Count
The
protracted trial of the former Managing Director of Gamtel,
Omar Ndow, has taken a sudden turn as he was yesterday
acquitted and discharged on one of the two counts he has
been charged with.
Delivering
his ruling on the no-case submission earlier on filed by the
defence counsel, Magistrate B.Y. Camara of the Banjul
Magistrates Court acknowledged that in count two, by which
the accused is charged with abuse of office, the prosecution
did not obtain the consent from the Attorney General as
required by law. He stated that when the accused entered a
plea of not guilty, it became the duty of the prosecution to
prove the charges against him, adding that the prosecution’s
failure to obtain an order to that effect from the Attorney
General as required by law meant it failed to provide
sufficient proof for that count. Consequently, he ruled, the
accused is acquitted and discharged on the said count, count
two.
With
regards to count one in which the accused is charged with
disobedience of statutory duty, Magistrate Camara stated
that the heart and soul of a company is its Managing
Director whose duty, he noted, it is to follow proper
procedures in signing contracts. He added that based on
that, the accused has a case to answer in count one and is
therefore under obligation to explain.
It could be
recalled that Omar Ndow has been charged with two counts-
disobedience of statutory duty and abuse of office.
The
particulars of the offence in count one read that Omar Ndow
on or about the year 2005 and 2006 at Gamtel House in the
city of Banjul, being employed in the public service as the
Managing Director of Gamtel willfully omitted to refer a
contract proposal to the GPPA as statutorily required of
him.
In count
two the particulars stated that the former Gamtel boss
between the year 2005 and 2006 at Gamtel House in Banjul,
being employed in the public service, willfully failed to
follow the required procedure of the GPPA regulation.
Case
adjourned to 19th December
2007.
Src: Point, The
2517 times read
- This is a great victory for Omar Ndow. I have met the man before and he is very honest and noble. There seems to be a new culture in Gambia that anyone fired from public office has to stand trial for something.. a witchhunting of anyone fired from their job rather than thank him for transforming Gamtel into one of the most succesful & organise companies in Africa. Gamtel's infastructure is number one in Africa. They have covered 90% of the country and their reach is very adequate. He should be thanked rather than humiliated in public.
(Posted on December 13, 2007, 1:04 PM Sutay Drammeh)
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