Information Minister Arrested

allAfrica.com

NEWS

December 17, 2003

Posted to the web December 17, 2003

By a Special Correspondent

Washington, DC

Reliable sources say Gambia's Information Minister Yankuba Touray has been
arrested. Touray was arrested shortly after his plane landed at Banjul
International Airport Tuesday as he returned from an official trip to
Switzerland. Shortly after his arrest, an announcement over Gambia Radio
and Television Services said Touray had been relieved of his position as
Information Minister.

Touray, a former lieutenant in the Gambian army, was one of President
Yahya Jammeh's co-coupists in the military council that overthrew Sir
Dawda Jawara in July 1994. He was one of two original members of that
council still in government. In addition to his portfolio as information
minister, Yankuba Touray was the ruling APRC's National Mobiliser and one
of Jammeh's closest confidants.

Touray's arrest comes in the wake of a wave of arrests of senior
government officials, civil servants and businessmen in the last six to
seven weeks. In early November, Baba Jobe, leader of the ruling party's
youth wing and majority leader in the National Assembly who was considered
the second most powerful individual in the country, was arrested and
charged with fraud. He is currently on trial over a bounced check for over
twenty million dalasis he paid to the Gambia Ports Authority. Arrested and
charged along with Mr. Jobe was Baba Kanteh, the manager of Jobe's
company, the Youth Development Enterprise.

A few years ago, Baba Jobe, alongside ousted Liberian dictator Charles
Taylor, was on a list of persons banned from traveling under UN sanctions
relating to the trade in plundered diamonds.

Shortly after Baba Jobe's arrest, his cousin Soma Jobe, a divisional
commissioner, was also arrested and charged with theft. On November 5th,
Ousman Mboge, the Director General of the Customs and Excise department
and Malick Njie, his Principal Collector in charge of the Ports Authority,
were picked up by the police fraud unit.

Earlier, top officials at the country's Central Bank, including the
General Manager were relieved of their duties.

Last week, Abdoulie Kujabi, head of the secret police, the National
Intelligence Agency and a relative of the president, was given the sack.

The spate of sackings appears to be part of a new anti-corruption drive
dubbed "Operation No Compromise" launched about two months ago by
President Jammeh.




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