Gambia News: Ex-Permanent Secretary Pleads Not Guilty to Stealing

Dec 25,2007 00:00 by lamin

William John Joof, ex-Permanent Secretary at the Department of State for Foreign Affairs, on Monday, pleaded not guilty to the charge of stealing 15, 000 US dollars, being property of The Gambia Government.

According to the particulars of the offence, Mr. Joof, between 2005 and 2006, while employed in the public service of The Gambia, as Ambassador to France, allegedly received the sum of US$15,000 from diverse sources in the name of Gambian delegation to UNESCO and converted it to his personal use.
His counsel, Lamin Camara, submitted before magistrate Kayode H. Olayubutu that he is objecting to all the eleven counts except count seven, because they are duplicitous and uncertain.

Mr. Camara argued that most of the charges are alleging offences to the public service regulations which, he said he does not have knowledge of.

He said he was finding it difficult to advice his client on the remaining charges and made an application for the regulations to be made available to him.

The prosecutor, Habib Sanyang, counter argued that the accused person should take his plea, since all the eleven charges are clearly spelt out.
Mr. Joof was granted bail in the sum of half a million dalasis with two Gambian sureties.

Magistrate Olajubutu stressed that both sureties must be senior civil servants and one of whom must also not be below the rank of a permanent secretary in any government ministry.

The Banjul Magistrates Court adjourned the case till December 27 for a ruling.