Home : News : Gambia News : Lt. Gen Masanneh Kinteh Appears in Court
Gambia News : Lt. Gen Masanneh Kinteh Appears in Court
Lt. Gen. Masanneh Kinteh, current Chief of Defense Staff of The Gambia Armed Forces on Friday 9th April 2009 testified as the tenth prosecution witness in the ongoing treason trial of former Chief of Defense Staff Lt. Gen. Lang Tombong Tamba and seven others before Justice Emmanuel Amadi of the High Court in Banjul.
Dressed in a full military uniform, CDS Kinteh told the court that he lives at Mile 7 in Bakau and he is military officer, a Lieutenant General and Chief of Defense Staff. He also told the court that he recognised all the accused persons who are standing trial on three count charges of coup d’etat.
CDS Kinteh recalled that on the 18th November 2009 while at his residence, he received a call from somebody who introduced himself as one Ebrima Ceesay.
"He said he is an intelligent operative at the Office of the President and that he has received information that some smuggling activity is going on around the border of Senegal and was asked to go for fact finding mission at Farrafenni and Basse and needs to liaise with me to inform my men on the ground that he is going to send two agents to Farrafenni and Basse. I assured him of our cooperation. I told the deputy CDS then Brigadier General Yankuba Drammeh about the visit, and instructed him to liaise with our commanders to facilitate their mission," he said.
Lt. Gen. Kinteh further said after that, he received another call from the same person (Ebrima Ceesay) that his agent’s vehicle got a break down after Barra and he needs assistance. Kinteh said he told Ebrima Ceesay that at that particular point in time, he doesn’t have any vehicle.
"That was the end of my conversation with him on that day. I called the Commander, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Lt. Col. Yorro Jallow to confirm whether he has received the information of the visit from the deputy CDS and he said yes. I further instructed him (Yorro) to facilitate the mission of the operatives and I make several calls to make sure that the person I was speaking to was a member of the President’s Office and all of them confirmed that he is not," he said.
According to the witness, the commanding officer of Farrafenni camp later called him and informed him that one of the agents has arrived in the camp. "I asked him to ascertain the agent’s identity but confirmed that he doesn’t have any identity on him. I requested to speak to the agent myself and I asked him of his identity or warrant. He told me he is a warrant officer and that he has handed over his warrant to his partner who is away from him. I then asked him to pass the phone to the commanding officer, whom I instructed not to allow the agent to leave the camp until he produces his card," he said.
Then the Director of Public Prosecution Richard N. Chenge told the court "that’s all for this witness," he said.
Under cross examination by one of the defense counsel Sheriff Tambedou, the witness told the court that Yankuba Drammeh, deputy Chief of Defense Staff has been relieved of his duties but he cannot remember when. He further said that Drammeh was de-kitted at his home immediately after he was relieved of his duties, and that is the normal procedure for officers and directives comes from the appropriate authority.
Counsel Tambedou asked CDS Kinteh whether he could tell the court who this appropriate authority is. But before the witness could answer that question, DDP Chenge rose and objected. Arguing that the question is not relevant to the case and in the Armed Forces, certain secrets should not be disclosed in public. But his objection was overruled by the presiding Judge who asked the witness to answer the question on what he meant by "the appropriate authority". And CDS Kinteh said, "appropriate authority is the person empowered by law or virtue of his position to give instructions"…that’s my understanding. He added that when ex-CDS Tamba was de-kitted, he (CDS Kinteh) was not in the country by then and somebody was acting as the CDS.
Another defense counsel Pap Cheyassin Secka, questioned CDS Kinteh why he gave instructions before and not wait until the identity of Ebrima Ceesay was ascertained. CDS Kinteh replied that initially, he believed the information was genuine. Defense counsel Hawa Sisay-Sabally was not in court during Friday proceedings but Counsel Lubna Farage held brief for her and did not ask the witness any question. The DDP later applied to the court for the witness to be discharged which was granted by the court.
Justice Amadi therefore adjourned the case to today Monday for continuation of trial. But not without expressing his disappointment with DDP’s bringing only one witness to court. "Monday, bring almost all your witnesses so that we can move fast," he said.
The likes of former deputy Chief of Defense Staff Yankuba Drammeh, Major Kuluteh Manneh, and some NIA personnel are all expected to testify in the trial.
4665 times read
- bomboo claat..how can u forget every single vital detail of the hearings? I feel sorry for the captives..n I really dont see or expect a fair judgement...GoD BlesS Gambia & Gambians...Stop badmind & greed...
Allahu Akbar.
(Posted on April 28, 2010, 3:42 PM Jah Blessed)
-
Let the judges do their work without no curruption so that our country can go forward. Without justic there will be no good future for our home land. Let us respect our common laws. A country without a law is a sh..........t.
Law 4 all.
(Posted on April 22, 2010, 11:02 PM O.S.D Portugal)
|
|
|
Rate this Gambia Article
 (total 132 votes)
|
Gambia News
Gambia Archive
Newsletter
Poll: 2011- Gambia General Election
Comment on This Gambia News (2 posted)
Syndication
