Gambia's Interior minister Ousman Badjie who was indicted by the April 10 Commission of enquiry has been fired with effect from today, reliable sources confirmed yesterday. He is replaced by Sulayman Masaneh Ceesay, a former official of the public service commission. Sources say Badjie's sacking could be linked to his Department's failure to tackle the veil controversy hitting the country's public school system. Badjie was assigned with religiuos affairs, and his removal is attracting a heated debate in Banjul. He was not only Jammeh's friend but as well as a brother. Sulayman Masaneh Ceesay, does not know any thing about security and observer believe Jammeh is losing hope in his administration. It is widely speculated that the dictator may end up relinguishing power in the near future. The regime is said to be faced with acute cash shortage and development partners such as the IMF and the World Bank have lamented about the increasing level of corruption in the tiny West African country. In a related development, reports say senior magistrate Abubacarr King had absconded from the jurisdiction of the Gambia. King is linked to a major corruption scandal which hit the Brikama magistrate court. Court fines collected from litigants were reported unaccounted for. Sources also say judgements were expunged from the case files. This is estimated to be about 45 cases. The judiciary is said to be pursuing the case. King believed to be a Sierralean national, only claimed Gambian citizenship after the 1998 Sierralean war. With the help of some Gambians he secured the national document. He is believed to be in the United States with his family. The judiciary says he is on leave, but competent sources say King will never return to the Gambia. He was send to Mecca for pilgrimage by the ruling APRC. This shows how the regime induces judicial staff. It is estimated that court fines amounting to thousands of dalasis are reported missing at the Brikama magistrate court. _________________________________________________________________ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~