Baba Jobe’s Trial

The Obstacles Faced By The Defence

PART 13

Counsels of both parties announced their appearance. Mr. Agim led the
prosecution while Mr. Edu Gomez led the defence. Mr. Gomez took the floor
and expressed total dismay at the lack of respect by the police for the
last sitting’s court instructions to give the defence lawyers access to
their witnesses to enable them present their case judiciously in the
interest of justice. Mr. Gomez told the court that at the end of the last
sitting of the court on the trial at hand, the court had ruled that the
defence be allowed to access their witnesses to enable them present their
case judiciously in the interest of justice. Mr. Gomez further reported
that on Friday the Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice
informed the defence that all necessary arrangements had been made with
the Inspector General of Police for them to meet their witnesses at the
police training school. He went on to say, as the head of the defence
team he went in advance of the team and upon his arrival at the entrance
of the PTS the sentry (guard) who had identified him allowed him to go
in. Mr. Gomez lamented that within five minutes a corporal who was in
charge of the camp came up to ask him to move out of the camp since there
had been no advice for him to allow any lawyer to see Baba Jobe. Mr.
Gomez further stated that prior to this trip he went with Mr. Jobarteh to
the PTS where the camp commander told them that they were asked not to
allow any lawyer into the PTS grounds. He added that it was that same
Friday that he delegated Mr. Jobarteh to the Bakau Police Station to meet
with Buba Senghore but there too the Station Officer insisted that
whatever is to be discussed or said to Buba must be in his presence. Mr.
Jobarteh did not agree to that and he left without fulfilling the purpose
of his visit. Mr. Gomez again went on to indicate that at the NIA where
Lamin Kuru Kongira was detained, the defence team had received a warm
welcome by the Director General of the NIA, Mr. Marena who allowed them
to see Mr. Kongira; that they had a fine discussion with Mr. Kongira. Mr.
Gomez however said that the discussion could not be further prolonged
since Mr. Kongira had made reference to certain documents, which he said
were not in his custody. The defence team could ! not access those
documents referred to as he had been arrested since the 31st day of
December 2003. Mr. Gomez added that they had also found Mr. Kongira with
persistent diarrhoea. He called on the court to intervene to allow him
have access to medical care. Mr. Gomez then submitted that because of
these reasons the defence had decided that Mr. Jobarteh and himself would
try to see the DPP to seek his assistance but unfortunately they could
not find the DPP in office; that they were informed that he was at
Kairaba Beach Hotel on a workshop; that they met him there and informed
him of the situation. Mr. Gomez finally told the court that Buba Senghore
had been brought to court just some minutes before the court came into
session; that Baba Jobe who is the team’s client had also been seen by
the team. Mr. Gomez called on the court to take note of the situation of
the defence and urged the court to once more urge the DPP to use his
office to tell the police to allow the defence team to meet with their
witnesses in order to enable them to present their case judiciously in
the!
interest of justice; that the DPP should talk to the police to allow
Lamin Kuru Kongira to provide his team with all the documents he had in
his possession in the interest of justice.

RESPONSE OF PROSECUTION

In his reply to the defence, the DPP concurred with the defence but
because of his personal intervention this morning Buba Senghore is now in
court. This, the DPP submitted is a sign that the police are cooperating.
That on Kuru Kongira, since the defence have accepted that they have
received good reception at the NIA, the defence should now proceed with
their case if not their whole efforts would be seen as a delaying tactic.
The DPP opined that the defence have been freely interacting with both
Kuru and Buba Senghore prior to their arrest and detention; that one
would have thought that during the preparation of the defence to
cross-examine the prosecution witnesses they should have contacted Buba
Senghore and Kongira to provide them with all that is necessary on the
matter. The DPP then questioned the reason why the defence did not
collect all such documents at that time. On the issue of the poor health
condition of Kuru, the DPP said Mr. Gomez is not a hea! lth personnel.
That what the court is concerned with is the question of lack of access
of the defence to their witness and nothing more. That at the moment the
court is not in a position to grant bail to anybody. Mr. Agim then
questioned the reasons behind the continued insistence of the defence on
calling their witnesses in their sequence to the court. He asked why the
defence should not continue with all those witnesses who are not in
detention.

Finally, Mr. Agim called on the defence to change their position and deal
with all witnesses who are not in detention; that since the police are
now trying to cooperate then by the time they are ready with those
witnesses not in detention, they can proceed to deal with those witnesses
detained. The trial judge agreed that the security forces had failed to
comply with the instructions of the court but told the court that he
equally agrees with the DPP that there is nothing holding the defence to
start with those witnesses who are not in detention; that since the court
would not sit by and not proceed the accused persons who are the cause of
the trial are to give their evidence then other witnesses may come in
later.

The Involvement Of President Jammeh
Before the examination of Buba Senghore, Mr. Gomez said the following:

"My lord I would like to inform the court that after we left here
yesterday the defence achieved a significant development. The first and
second witnesses of the defence were released by the NIA bail in my
presence. A meeting was later planned between the defence lawyers, the
two witnesses and the first accused Baba Jobe at the Police Training
School. Initially the defence had it tough with the police who were not
willing to allow us in, but with the intervention of the DPP with some
top police officers we were able to meet as a team at about 8pm to 11pm
in the night and had very important discussions. Buba Senghore who is the
first witness has seen a lot of documents pertinent to the case, but had
had failed to see others because of lack of light." Mr. Gomez then
applied for one more adjournment to enable the defence proceed well. The
trial judge refused the application and asked Mr. Gomez to start the case
with those documents available.

Evidence of Buba Senghore

The defence had called its first witness, Buba Senghore on the 10th
February 2004. In giving his evidence Buba Senghore began thus: Q: Name?
A: Buba Senghore.
Q: Address?
A: Serrekunda London Corner
Q: What work do you do?
A: I am a social worker and I also have a clearing agency called Gateway.
Q: Do you know the first accused?
A: Yes, he is honourable Baba Jobe, majority leader and chief executive
of YDE. Q: What about the second accused?
A: He is Baba Kanteh, acting Managing Director of YDE.
Q: Do you know whether the company incorporated as YDE?
A: Yes.
Q: Does it have an office?
A: Yes.
Q: Where is it?
A: At No.33 Kairaba Avenue.
Q: Can you tell this court how YDE as a company incorporated came into
existence? A: Youth Development Enterprise came into the being in 1995.
At the first meeting the following were present: myself as Buba Senghore,
Baba Jobe, Salif Puye, Saul Ndow, Omar Malang Jabang and Yaya Jammeh,
President of the republic. At that meeting we said among other things
that since we are doing politics, it is important for us to have an
entity, which will have the following objectives and principles:

Youth empowerment with self-sustaining ventures such as providing them
with skills and employment; To provide the Gambian people with reasonable
and affordable food commodities such as rice, sugar and cooking oil. Mr.
Senghore went further to state that during the 1996 elections YDE was
dormant because they were all the time involved in election activities;
that by 1999 or 2000 they again started ordering goods with the first
financing coming from President Yaya Jammeh. Mr. Senghore added that when
those goods came he was responsible for supplying food commodities to the
army; that Hamidou Baldeh was in charge of supplying to the State House
while Lamin Kuru Kongira was in charge of supplying the prisons. Q: How
were you operating?
A: By tender. We apply for the tender of those supplies and we were given
because our goods were cheaper and our line of supply was consistent. For
these reasons discussion was sought with the Department of Finance to
give YDE the privilege. Mr. Senghore again asserted that by 2001 YDE
started importing large quantities of goods through Baba Jobe; that YDE
then started to open up business outlets nationwide in order to provide
the rural poor with affordable prices since YDE had the same selling
price all over the country; that at the same time YDE had been employing
the service of Gambian youths in all its operations in the country; that
these youths were paid salaries. Q: When was the first consignment?
A: I cannot say exactly when but I know it was in 2001.
Q: What type of commodities were in the first shipment of YDE as at that
period? A: Cooking oil.
Buba Senghore added that subsequently YDE went into rice, sugar and flour
also. At this stage Mr. Gomez ended his examination of Buba Senghore for
Lamin Jobarteh to pick up from there.

Intervention By Jobarteh

Q: Mr. Senghore, did you tell the court earlier that you operate a
clearing agency A: Yes.
Q: Was it registered?
A: Yes.
Q: Can you produce the certificate?A: Yes, with time I will.
Q: Did your agency at any time clear goods for YDE?A: Yes.
Q: What type of gods?A: Cooking Oil.
Q: At what stage do you start a process of clearing?A: When the CEO of
YDE informs us of the arrival of goods. Then I go with my staff go to
Maerskline or the civil shipping agency to collect the bill of lading.
Thereafter, we proceeded to the Customs to take the single entry document
form fill it and take the direct delivery form apply for direct delivery,
submit it to the office of the director general. From where it is entered
into their way book before it is submitted to the customs officer at the
seaport for examination before delivery during which the NIA and Police
officers are present. Q: When you see an application for direct delivery
would you be able to identify it?A: Yes. Q: Shown Exhibit Y5 and asked
what it is?A: It is an application for direct delivery. Q: What happens
if all these processes are completed up to the stage of examination?A:
After the contents of the container are examined we make payment to the
port for handling charges before the gate pass can be issued to us. That
gate pass is signed by the customs officer and dated with the number of
the SAD form written at the back of that gate pass in the presence of
that NIA and customs officers. After this we take away the goods. Q: Are
those payments for handling charges normally receipted by the GPA?A: Yes.
Q: What are normally written on a gate pass?A: The type of goods,
quantity, date and signature of the issuing officers.  Q: If you are
shown copies of the gate passes will you identify them?A: Yes.  At this
stage a pile of documents were shown to the witness and asked what they
are. He removed copies of gate passes and said those were the ones. Mr.
Jobarteh then applied to tender them. Initially the prosecution attempted
to object but the court overruled them and accepted the seven copies as
exhibits AA12,AA13, AA14,AA15,AA16 and AA17. It was at this stage that
the DPP came in to join Madam Jainaba Sambou and Co. The DPP apologized
for being late explaining that he was before the Supreme Court. Q: Apart
from the gate pass which other documents are normally given to you before
goods are taken?A: Delivery orders. Q: Are they receipted?A: Yes.
Q: If you see them will you identify them?A: Yes.
Q: Shown copies of documents and asked what they are?A: They are delivery
notes. They were tendered without objection and marked Exhibits AA18A and
AA18B. Q: Again shown Exhibit 18,12 – AA17 and asked at what stage they
are given?A: At the end of all transactions. Q: Without them can you take
out goods from the port?A: Not at all. Q: Asked to look at the same
documents and say what are written on their back?A: The signature of the
customs officer, date and the No. On the SAD form. Q: What items and
quantity of goods are Exhibits AA13?A: The container is one of cooking
oil containing 1190 drums of 20 litres. Q: What about Exhibits AA12?A: It
is for seven containers of coking oil. Q: When you go for clearing did
you at any time go with any of the two accused?A: Never. Q: As far as you
know, was there any time that any of the two accused ever went to the
port for clearing?A: Not to my knowledge. Q: The procedure you explained
about the clearing containers of cooking oil, do you apply the same
procedure in clearing other goods of YDE?A: Yes.  Q: If you are shown
gate passes in respect of YDE rice imports will you be able to identify
them?A: Yes. Q: Shown a big bunch of documents and asked what they are?A:
They are gate passes. They were tendered without objection and marked
Exhibits AA19 1 – 151. At this stage Mr. Jobarteh applied for an
adjournment to allow Mr. Buba Senghore to have more time to search for
more documents relevant to the case. The court questioned the reasons at
this stage and further asked if the rest of the documents with counsel
are of no relevance to the case. Mr. Jobarteh said they are photocopies
and would only be prompted to tender them if no more originals are seen.
The court insisted that Mr. Jobarteh proceed with the photocopies and
tender them until their originals are seen or note that if originals are
seen then they would be withdrawn and when not seen the court would still
see if they are relevant to the case. At this stage, a great argument
ensued between the DPP and Jobarteh; that the defence must be engaged in
delay tactics since they had a lot of time with the witnesses before
their arrest and added that he himself had advised the police officer who
escorted Mr. Senghore to court in the presence of the defence counsels,
that he should take Buba Senghore to their office to search for whatever
documents are needed and give them to the defence lawyers. That at that
time Kuru’s release was in the pipeline. The DPP then questioned how they
can come to the court asking for adjournment because of lack of
documents. At this stage, Mr. Gomez intervened to tell the court that he
is not casting any doubt over the help the DPP had offered; that he had
told the court that in his opening remarks in the morning, but after the
DPP left for his office, the police had taken both Buba Senghore and Kuru
Kongira to the NIA. Up to about 4 O’clock he was with them at the NIA
until they received bail. Mr. Gomez informed the court further that
naturally from the NIA, the witnesses had to go to their homes. He said
this and other constraints are what the defence had faced and are known
to the DPP. Since as he said they had called him at about 6 pm asking for
his help as the defence team had been refused by the police at the PTS to
see the first accused where the team was supposed to meet the two
witnesses for discussions.  Mr. Jobarteh then added that it is very clear
to the DPP that it is one thing for him to give his advice and another
thing for the police to do it. Mr. Jobarteh asserted that at about 6 pm
when he called the DPP and expressed their difficulty to go into the PTS
to have their meeting, the DPP asked him to give his mobile to the police
officer at the gate so that he the DPP could tell him to call his senior
officer in charge, to tell him to allow the defence to go in and discuss
with Baba Jobe and the witnesses. He said the DPP heard the officer
saying he does not want to talk to the DPP. Mr. Jobarteh said he told the
officer that it is the DPP but the officer insisted that he does not care
whether he is the DPP; that his orders are no one is allowed to see the
first accused Baba Jobe. Mr. Jobarteh said at that stage the DPP
remarked: What is this nonsense about? Mr. Jobarteh continued to put to
the court that they continued under the same condition even when they
called th! e Crime Management Coordinator. The police commander of the
PTS continued to say he is not talking to anybody as he has been given
orders not to allow any meeting with Baba Jobe. Mr. Jobarteh finally said
it was not until late when the officers allowed them after several
interventions of their top officers. The court maintained that Mr.
Jobarteh continues with the photocopies, then the court would decide. Mr.
Jobarteh then proceeded as thus: Q: When you apply for direct delivery,
do they go with other documents?A: Yes they go with SAD forms.  Q: Shown
2 documents and asked what they are?A: They are application for delivery.
Q: Where are the originals?A: They should be with the director general of
customs. Mr. Jobarteh applied to tender them, the DPP objected. The court
overruled him on the grounds that it is the court that ordered their
tendering. They were accepted and marked Exhibits AA20 and AA21.  Q:
Further shown 3 documents and asked what they are?A: They are photocopies
of gate passes in connection to YDE rice import. Q: Where are the
originals?A: They may be in our office. Mr. Jobarteh applied to tender
them. The DPP suggested that the photocopies be only marked as ID instead
of Exhibits. The court overruled that it had already decided that they
would be marked as Exhibits until originals are seen or not. They were
marked Exhibits AA21 to AA24. M. Jobarteh then informed the court that
those are the final documents the witness brought.  The matter was
adjourned till the following day for Buba Senghore to continue.

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