Recent disclosures by the Ministry of Justice, during a cabinet meeting, have revealed that certain forfeited assets linked to former President Yahya Jammeh and his associates were sold while the Janneh Commission of Inquiry was still actively conducting its investigation.
This revelation has sparked serious concerns about the legality and transparency of these transactions.
In a public address, President Adama Barrow acknowledged that sales of livestock, tractors, vehicles, and other valuables took place during the Commission’s proceedings, a period when, according to established procedures, asset disposal should have been suspended until the Commission completed its work and the government formally adopted its recommendations.
Legal experts and anticorruption practitioners have expressed suspicion that these sales were conducted "ultra vires", beyond the legal authority granted, raising questions about whether proper oversight and due process were followed. The government’s own White Paper, published in September 2019 following the Commission’s conclusion, clearly outlined that asset disposal was to be managed by a Ministerial Taskforce only after the inquiry’s findings were accepted.
President Barrow revealed that upon learning of these premature sales, he convened an urgent Cabinet meeting on May 13 to address the issue. While initially considering the establishment of an independent investigative panel, he emphasized that ongoing inquiries by the National Assembly and the National Audit Office would take precedence. The President pledged full transparency and vowed to enforce any recommendations arising from these investigations to hold those responsible accountable.
“The assets recovered belong to the people of The Gambia,” President Barrow stated. “My administration will not tolerate negligence or wrongdoing in safeguarding our nation’s resources.”
Civil society groups and anticorruption experts are calling for swift and thorough investigations, warning that the premature sale of assets could have deprived the state of rightful value and undermined public trust in the government’s commitment to accountability.
As the investigations continue, Gambians have been urged to remain calm and confident that the matter will be resolved within the bounds of the law.
This report highlights the critical concerns surrounding asset recovery efforts in The Gambia and underscores the importance of transparency and rule of law in combating corruption.
The Coroner’s Inquest report on the death of Brigadier General Bora Colley has concluded that he died of natural causes. Colley, a former senior military officer implicated in human rights abuses during former President Yahya Jammeh’s regime, died on March 9, 2025, while in state custody. He had voluntarily returned from exile in August 2024 due to deteriorating health and was receiving continuous medical care while detained. The Attorney General requested a coroner’s inquest to determine the precise cause of death, which was conducted under the Coroner’s Act. The report found no evidence of foul play, confirming that Colley succumbed to his medical condition naturally.
Colley’s death has sparked debate about justice and accountability for alleged Jammeh-era crimes, as he was implicated in torture and extrajudicial killings by the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC). The government has expressed commitment to prosecuting such cases, but Colley’s death ended the possibility of his trial. The inquest aimed to provide transparency amid public skepticism about custodial deaths in politically sensitive cases.
The Chief of Defence Staff Lt Gen Mamat O Cham has given an order to his soldiers to shoot armed robbers who are frequently entering the country, attacking innocent citizens and looting their properties.
Speaking at Lamin Koto and Farafeni military posts during his current tour, CDS Cham told soldiers that the most pressing challenge to national security currently is the constant cases of armed robbery, especially along our border villages. “Anywhere we go, or when we invite people, they all tell us they are worried about their lives and the security of their properties from armed robbers, ” CDS Cham told soldiers.
“These idiots will sleep around the border villages and wait for a Lumo day and while everybody is asleep at night, they would come with cutlasses, or hunting guns terrorising people at gun point and taking everything from them. As soldiers your order is not to negotiate. If anybody attacks any Gambian village or shop, either with a cutlass or gun with the intention to overpower them and take their wealth, and you happened to come across that, the order is to shoot to kill, and there is no ambiguity about that,” CSD Cham ordered.
He said anybody who takes up arms to rob people should be treated as an enemy to the people and the country.
‘As soldiers you should be able to use your training, military tactics and apply your skills to get close enough to the enemy and neutralise them,” CDS Cham drilled his soldiers. He assured the soldiers that his office, the government as well as the president will do everything possible to address their challenges within the available means and resources. The tour continues.
Jun 22, 2022, 11:14 AM | Article By:Yunus S. Saliu
TThe Point Newspaper
It is 40 years down the lane that the helicopter carrying former President Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara and his delegation crash-landed near Brikama Ba, some 280 kilometers away fromBanjul.
This resulted in the death of former vice president of The Gambia, Mr. A.B. Njie and few others.
Others that survived the crash included the late President’s Press Secretary, Jay Saidy, the Secretary General Professor Jabez Langley, Journalist Sulayman Njie (Saul Njie) and the pilot. But Sir Dawda Jawara’s close friend and confidant A.B. Njie, who was the former vice president and Foreign Affairs Minister at the time died on the spot.
Its worth knowing that most of these occupants of the helicopter, according to The Gambia News Bulleting issue of Friday 23rd April 1982, “suffered minor injuries were flown to Dakar immediately while the rest, including the President, went to Bansang Hospital, then to the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in Banjul” for treatment.
The day of the incident was described as a “very sad day” by Gambians because the late president just survived a coup seven months earlier before the helicopter crash which was the reason he used the helicopter during his election campaign in the year under review.
According to gathered facts, the former president was advised by the Senegalese security (soldiers) guarding him at the time to travel by air for security purpose taking into consideration his safety after the coup.
“To ensure his safety, the Senegalese army guarding him at that time thought it was unsafe for him to travel by land or in a car to do his campaign and therefore advised him to travel by helicopter as the Senegalese intelligence thought Kukoi Samba’s rebels might still be hiding in the bushes to strike or attack him,” historian Hassoum Ceesay explained.
The crashed helicopter was a borrowed one to the Gambia government then by the former President Abdou Diouf of Senegal “but the helicopter was completely destroyed.”
According to investigation, it was revealed that the crash was due to human error and when it crashed, one of the blades fell off “while the pilot was commended because when the blade fell off, the pilot ran the chopper into a tree to minimise the impact. According to investigation, if he hadn’t done that nobody would have survived the crash, because the chopper would have exploded if crash landed on ground direct” historian Ceesay narrated.
According to the Bulletin, “the helicopter crash-landed between two ancient ‘taboo’ trees on the fence of a compound at the Bantaba of Brikamanding, a village one kilometer from Brikama Ba. It lay in a mess of broken parts, sticks and wires. The door of the cockpit had flung open revealing the smashed dark interior. The main door too was ripped off hinges showing the damage to the passenger compartment. Three fence posts had pierced the underbelly of the helicopter, with one piercing the roof of the chopper.”
The Managing Director of Jah Oil Company, Momodou Hydara, testified on Monday before the Public Enterprises Committee and the National Assembly Joint Committee of Finance and Public Accounts about the $30 million petroleum products scandal involving 36,953.614 metric tons.
Hydara gave a detailed account of how Apogee FZC introduced his institution to Creed Energy during his testimony. Yes, Creed Energy, that’s how we learned about them. If my memory serves me correctly, that would be in the latter half of 2023. And Apogee, a business that imports and trades petroleum products into the nation, is the only way we are aware of them. Additionally, we purchase petroleum products from Apogee; Creed Energy issues the invoice and receipt for these purchases.
A committee member named Hon. Kebba Lang Fofana questioned Hydara, who said Apogee had enough inventory in the depot.
In response, Hydara said that it was not a secret when Apogee arrived in the nation. Since they are an Oil Marketing Company (OMC), they disseminate information swiftly.
Thus, information regarding a product’s availability anywhere or anything spreads swiftly. We even communicate with each other in a group chat on occasion. We so learned right away that Apogee, a new actor in the depot, had enough stock in those tanks. This is how we were able to swiftly get things from them when we ran out of PSTV supplies and also noticed a new person. The committee was then advised, “Let us get some from them to keep our stations running until we can find another supplier.”
Eventually, MD Hydara said, he was put in contact with Apogee’s national representative—whose name he cannot recall—who lives in a hotel.
He was then prompted by Hon. Kebba Lang to elaborate on the specifics of his organization’s dealings with Apogee.
MD Hydara responded by stating that Jah Oil had indicated interest and had contacted them using a contact number they had. The person from Apogee then asked for the required quantity, which his business gave.
“I can’t recall the amount, but that was the first transaction. Then, we revealed to him (Apogee’s Representative) that we had an invoice with the bank details on it, at which point we initially displayed Creed Energy. I subsequently said, “Well, how come it was Apogee and now it’s Creed?” They went on to say that Creed is the national brand or local agent handling the deal. I’m not interested in learning the reason behind Creed’s sneaky appearance at Apogee’s expense, as it seems to be an internal market for them. He emphasized, “For us, the most important thing is that the products we want are available.”
MD Hydara was questioned by Hon. Fofana, “Who sends the Creed Energy invoice?” To which MD Hydara said, “Normally, it’s sent via email.”
Hon. Fofana then asked if, after receiving the invoice, MD Hydara had checked its legitimacy with a representative of Apogee.
“Of course, I had to ask questions when we received an invoice for the first time,” MD Hydara replied. We were reassured that it wouldn’t be a problem because it was from the same company, so we moved forward.
Also, MD Hydara was questioned by Hon. Fofana on his familiarity with Ultimate Beige Logistics. In response, MD Hydara stated that he was unaware of Ultimate Beige Logistics.
“Creed Energy is the one I know and the few transactions we have; I don’t know anything about Ultimate Beige logistics,” the man remarked.
The reason MD Hydara thought it strange that Jah Oil received an invoice from Creed Energy instead of Apogee was the question Hon. Fofana posed to him.
Since Apogee told us it owned the products, I would like to be completely honest with you about my honest assessment of the situation. Apogee now claims that since Creed Energy is a local business, the deal can proceed. Therefore, all that’s going through our minds is, “Maybe this is their national representative? Perhaps they’re not registered while Creed is,” he added.
He said that this is the first time he has come across a trader transaction done in this way.
When Hon. Fofana asked about Apogee’s current situation, MD Hydara replied that although they see Apogee as traders when they buy from them, they also acknowledge them as efficient distributors.
Hon. Fofana then questioned MD Hydara about whether he was aware of the name of the oil marketing firm that had contacted Apogee for services, as well as if Apogee had an initial client or OMC upon entering the nation.
In response, MD Hydara said he was not aware of any OMC that had brought Apogee into the nation, but if such information was available, he might be able to find it at the depot.
Additionally, MD Hydara mentioned that throughout this time, Apogee has posed difficulties for the nation’s licensed oil marketing companies.
As everyone is aware, the Gambia Petroleum Depot has a very little storage capacity and can only hold a very modest quantity of goods. That is where all Oil Marketing Companies with Gambia registrations should keep their goods in order to distribute them elsewhere. The realization that one player, about whom not much is known, had been allocated a sizable portion of the depot became quite depressing. If not every store, and that’s where we ran into trouble because we couldn’t bring in as many vessels to store as we used to,” he asserted.
He said that they are permitted to import and keep products in accordance with their mandate and licensing. But every time they encounter rejection, it gets harder.
Hon. Fofana asked if the denial had any particular justifications. In response, Hydara said that the only rationale they are given is that there isn’t any room.
“Therefore, we personally monitor the situation to ensure that we know whether it is true that there is no storage space available, and the only way we knew this was by watching the stock daily report, when it becomes evident that rejections are getting excessive. The oil marketing companies (OMCs), particularly the larger ones like us (Jah Oil Company), who have been honoring fuel in this nation on a regular basis, were unable to find space because Apogee occupied almost 80% of the space or more. It is astounding that every time we apply, we are turned down. And even if there is a place, we are eventually rejected, so realizing that it is incorrect was shocking. No one has ever denounced it, he claimed
Yesterday was the turn of the national fuel storage company Gam-Petroleum in the National Assembly inquiry into allegations of bribery and tax evasion by three companies, Apogee FZC, Creed Energy Limited and Ultimate Beige Logistics, suspected of importing and selling petroleum products in The Gambia worth $30m without paying taxes.
The product was in a Russian ship in the Atlantic Ocean before it was brough to The Gambia.Appearing before the enquiry, General Manager of Gam Petroleum Yero Jallow, began by the telling NAMs that his company had a deposit agreement with Apogee to store their products at the depot as they would for any trader with the right products
According to Jallow, the original arrangement was for them to supply product to somebody who needed it but that original sales deal collapsed while they are already here. “So they had to look for alternatives, which is normal in oil and gas business, and so they looked for a terminal to store the product and that is when they came to us and they came at a time when we also needed the product,” Mr Jallow said.
He added that following the storage of the petroleum, they received subsequent ‘release orders’ from Apogee, a Dubai-based company to release the petroleum to buyers.
According to Mr Jallow, Gam-Petroleum’s deposit agreement with Apogee came at a time when the country was facing a “fuel crisis” between March, April and May 2023. But he said because of the circumstances, Apogee came to the country and his company had to take extra steps to “do certain things they don’t do with others.”
“We went to the extent of ensuring our team boarded the vessel before it came to the depot and obtained samples to verify whether the product is up to standard,” he said.
He said following their assessment, they realised the petroleum product was of “best quality” and it has made a good impact in the market.
Asked if Gam Petroleum management had conducted due diligence on the credibility of Apogee before establishing relations with them, GM Jallow said: “As a storage facility, we don’t go deep into investigating people’s identity beyond what they have provided. We only request certain documents which they have provided and we establish relations and sign the agreement”.
Jallow added that Gam Petroleum does not have the resources to investigate every trader they deal with. “That is why we don’t care too much because we are only holding their property and only control the product after the agreement,” he added.
“The trader is trading the goods. They don’t need to establish themselves in a country before they come in. So why would we need to look into the credibility? What concerns us is the product, and whether it is good or not,” he said
Asked to give names of persons who acted as facilitators for Apogee during the sale of the products, GM Jallow said the company has its own facilitators, Aurimas Steblys who acted as Apogee’s commercial director and one Nana who represented Ultimate Beige Logistics, a Ghanaian company registered in The Gambia.
GM Jallow’s testimony at this point was marred by tense arguments with several lawmakers repeatedly using parliamentary Standing Orders to bring the witness to track.
At one point, Mr Jallow accused NAMs of having a “preconceived mind” against Apogee which was why they were not getting his points.
That accusation was taken up by nominated member Kebba Lang Fofana, who stated that the committee is approaching the investigation with impartiality and an open mind. He asked Jallow to withdraw his statement, which he did.
Mr Jallow then continued to reveal that 75 percent of the shares of Gam-Petroleum belong to GPA, SSHFC, GNPC and Ministry of Finance while the remaining 25 percent is owned by Star Oil Group.
Asked how Star Oil Group managed to own such large shares since it newly came into the Gambian oil market, Mr Jallow said this was in place before his appointment.
The session was suspended with the witness expected to appear again
The permanent secretary at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Louis Moses Mendy, has confirmed a shooting incident at Wellingara Primary School.
“It is unfortunate that this happened, and the victim is in the hospital receiving medical treatment,” he said.
He added that investigations are ongoing to determine what actions need to be taken.
Mr. Mendy, who condemned the incident, called on parents to inculcate discipline in their children.
“Parents need to take care of their children and screen them properly before going to school,” he told The Fatu Network.
Meanwhile, the police last night issued a short statement that they are investigating the incident which was reported by the vice principal of the school.
“The police quickly responded to the scene, recovered the weapon, and secured it.
The public will be duly informed of any developments as the investigation into the incident continues,” the statement said.
