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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
 Posted - 14 May 2012 : 17:29:51
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DAILY OBSERVER NEWS;
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2012 : 15:59:29
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THE DAILY NEWS AND EDITORIAL;
GAINAKO NEWS;
JOLLOF NEWS;
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Edited by - kobo on 17 May 2012 17:49:45 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 21 May 2012 : 20:40:38
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HELLO GAMBIA 0N-LINE NEWS;
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 24 May 2012 : 00:49:20
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THE POINT NEWS;
THE DAILY NEWS;
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Edited by - kobo on 24 May 2012 01:14:37 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2012 : 23:46:22
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THE DAILY NEWS;
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jun 2012 : 21:32:14
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THE DAILY NEWS;
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jun 2012 : 01:32:12
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THE POINT NEWS;
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jun 2012 : 23:20:29
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THE POINT NEWS;
DAILY OBSERVER NEWS;
THE DAILY NEWS;
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Edited by - kobo on 13 Jun 2012 23:21:02 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2012 : 17:30:58
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THE POINT NEWS;
DAILY OBSERVER NEWS;
THE DAILY NEWS;
FREEDOM NEWS;
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2012 : 17:31:39
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THE POINT NEWS;
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Momodou
Denmark
11712 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2012 : 20:12:13
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Update for Kobo and others interested in this case.
Gumbo Touray gives marathon testimony
Author: Bakary Samateh
Friday, July 27, 2012
Former UTG director of International Affairs, Alhagie Gumbo Ali Touray, yesterday continued his defence testimony at the Banjul Magistrates’ Court before Principal Magistrate Alagbe Ade Taiwo.
Touray is standing trial charged with the offence of giving false information to a public officer.
Continuing his testimony, Touray told the court that he knew one Mr. Kojo, the Director of Finance at the University of The Gambia, UTG.
Asked by his defence counsel how Kojo was appointed to the UTG, Touray said Kojo started working at the UTG in November 2010, but has received salaries and other allowances even without being fully employed at the UTG.
He added that he was aware that Kojo was fully appointed into the UTG as Director of Finance at UTG only in February 2011, and that his position was once advertised, but it was never re-advertised.
Touray also told the court that Bai Mattar Drammeh interviewed Kojo through a mere telephone interview, and that Kojo was given the highest second salary earned at the UTG.
He added that Kojo drives a government vehicle, and that the UTG took the trouble to enter into a loan agreement amounting to D8 million with interest just to rent accommodation for Kojo at the AU Villa in Brufut in the West Coast Region.
Gumbo said he was able to lay hands on the letter from Bai Mattar Drammeh concerning his telephone interview with Kojo, as well as a letter of the loan transaction between Trust Bank Gambia Limited and the UTG.
He added that the said documents were photocopies, and the original copies were in the custody of the UTG management and he could not lay hands on them.
At that juncture, the prosecuting officer, Superintendent Sainey Joof, raised an objection on the grounds that the said documents were photocopies and the court should not admit them as defence exhibits.
However, the prosecutor’s objection was overruled by the trial magistrate and the documents were declared admissible based on relevance and were admitted in evidence and marked as exhibits.
Touray also told the court that Kojo was not qualified to hold the position of financial director at the UTG, because he was MBA holder with no accounting background, that was why he (Touray) said he was not a qualified candidate for that position.
Touray said one Haruna Jones, a Gambian national, was qualified for the position, but was not offered a similar package like Kojo was offered, which included the fact that Kojo was the second highest earner in the UTG and uses a UTG vehicle without buying fuel.
He said Professor Kah told the court during cross-examination that he recruited Kojo and brought him to the UTG.
Touray said Professor Kah and Kojo attended the same university in America, and that was why the chance was given to him.
Touray went on to say that this was clear evidence that Professor Kah and Kojo were good friends, and that was why a similar opportunity was not given to Haruna Jones who had an ACCA which was purely for accounting, and was deprived the position due to the influence of Professor Kah.
He added that other Gambians applied for the position at the first advertisement, but they did not respond to their applications.
Asked by his counsel Badou S.M. Conteh whether Professor Kah was a qualified professor, according to terms and conditions of the UTG, Touray told the court that Professor Kah was not a qualified professor according to the terms and conditions of the UTG.
He added that as a professor you needed to author at least 12 peer review journals, whereas Professor Kah did not author even a single journal, but instead he co-authored.
He added that according to the documents submitted by the UTG vice chancellor, there were only 8 peer reviewed journals instead of 12 as required according to the UTG conditions of service.
The Vice Chancellor had scored 4 points instead of authored 12 peer review journals, he said, noting that in academia, professorship was significantly based on experience and, in this particular case, there were no books Professor Kah authored.
He said Kah’s professorship was false.
Touray added that he read generally about the requirements of professorship in many universities around the world, including the University of The Gambia, and to him Professor Kah was below qualification after evaluating the fact that he attained his professorship at the American University of Nigeria.
He added that there are no contact numbers or address of the institution or the writer, and this omission was very serious and unusual to be absent from institutional letterheads.
He added that his letter bears no stamp or seal of AN for validation purposes.
Touray added that the letter was not copied to any other official of the university e.g University Registrar, Dean of Faulty, Accountant, etc., and asked how could the salary adjustment, for example, be paid.
He added that the award did not say whether it was the senate, board, council or which authority was conferring the professorship.
Touray pointed out that to attain the rank of professor at any university of reputation, one would have had to establish an international reputation through peer reviewed articles, books and making significant contribution to one’s area of study/ discipline.
He added that the American University of Nigeria (AN) was established around 2006-7 (from google) and not listed in any American university of Washington DC or any other US –based institution of higher learning.
Source: The Point |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11712 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jul 2012 : 13:21:20
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Gumbo Touray continues testimony
By Bakary Samateh
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Former UTG director of International Affairs yesterday continued his defence testimony at the Banjul Magistrates’ Court before Principal Magistrate Alagbe Ade Taiwo.
Gumbo Ali Touray is standing trial for the offence of giving false information to a public officer.
Touray told the court that according to the contract document and the report of the National Drug Enforcement Agency (NDEA), UTG vice chancellor Professor Kah’s salary was D3.5 million per annum.
He added that Vice Chancellor Professor Kah should not receive that amount as the salary of a professor.
“It had been confirmed by the Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA) report on the University of The Gambia that the institution was not working in compliance with the GPPA rules of procurement thus seriously flouting the said rules and doing things the way the Vice Chancellor and his administration likes,” Touray stated.
He added that Augustine Prom’s financial report also revealed that Professor Kah was doing things on his own willing.
Professor Kah had dissolved so many committees at the University of the Gambia, he said, adding that the UTG Research and Strategy committees lost its prized position of membership in the ERNWACA group’s research initiatives.
He said some of the lecturers who had demonstrated a commendable track record of publishable (CODESRIA, ActionAid etc) academic research expertise in the past, had their planned research teaching courses arbitrarily cancelled by the Vice-Chancellor, without even the courtesy of consultations or any explanation.
Touray added that he was a senior member of the UTG as Director of International Affairs, and they all took the UTG as a national pride after it was established by the second Republic.
It was disheartening to see such national institution as a university being eroded, he said, adding that he was concerned as a senior member or employee of the UTG that the standard was falling.
Touray added that he was further concerned by virtue of his responsibilities as Director of International Affairs, and that was why he honestly wrote the petition to the President and the Chancery of the UTG for redress for unlawful suspension and termination of his services by Professor Kah.
He stated that during the visit of members of the National Assembly to the University, he frankly expressed his disapproval in the way the University was governed, which certainly did not go down well with the Vice-Chancellor who subsequently decided to suspend him, as in his words “based on powers conferred” on him.
He said the UTG is an institution the government spent a lot of money on for its citizens to have higher and a solid education.
Touray also cited that, according to the NDEA report, “Professor Kah may be a very good lecturer, but not a good administrator who can move the UTG to the envisaged level.”
“If this is the case, I feel very justified to stand for the national interest and also stood firm to see that government had achieved the development agenda in Vision 2020,” he said.
Touray told the court that he totally disagreed with the charge of giving false information to the Office of the President.
Instead, he said, he had written to the President and Chancery of the UTG to make a complaint and to seek redress for unlawful suspension and termination of his services by the Vice-Chancellor of the UTG.
“I maintain that what I have said is the truth, nothing but the truth,” he said.
The case was adjourned till 9 August 2012, for cross-examination.
Source: The Point
Related Story from D.O: Gumbo Touray ends testimony |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11712 Posts |
Posted - 05 Oct 2012 : 12:30:46
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Daily Observer Gumbo Touray acquitted, discharged
Gumbo Ali Touray freed at last
By Bakary Samateh
The Point: Published on Friday, October 05, 2012
Former Director of International Affairs at the University of The Gambia, Dr Gumbo Ali Touray, yesterday walked out of the Banjul Magistrates’ Court a free man after presiding Magistrate Taiwo Ade Alagbe acquitted and discharged him from a charge of giving false information.
 Touray, who was first arraigned before the Banjul Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 3rd August 2011, denied accusations that he wrote a petition to the Office of the President, stating that the Vice Chancellor of the University of The Gambia, Professor Muhammed Kah, is bent on employing his relatives at the University of The Gambia, which information he knew to be false.
The case, which gathered public attention since at the onset, saw the testimonies of both current and past lecturers at the university, including Vice Chancellor Professor Muhammed O. Kah.
In delivery his judgment, Principal Magistrate Taiwo Alagbe told the court that the accused person was properly arraigned before the court in August 2011, and was charged with giving false information to a public officer.
He added that the charge sheet was read to him and he denied it, adding that the prosecution called nine (9) witnesses in support of their case, including Professor Muhammed O. Kah and some senor members of the UTG.
Magistrate Alagbe pointed out that the accused person also gave sworn evidence, and called witnesses.
He added that Bai Mattar Drammeh, a member of the UTG governing council, was also a prosecution witness, who told the court that he was part of the panel which interviewed Mr. Kojo, the director of finance at the UTG.
Mr. Drammeh, he said, also told the court that he only interviewed one person, and that was Mr. Kojo through a telephone interview, as a member of the governing council of the UTG based on the directive given to him.
“The fifth prosecution witness (PW5), Lamin Gassama, also told the court that he is a narcotics officer attached to Holgam NDEA, and that they received an executive directive for the accused person to be arrested and the matter be investigated, and the case file was compiled at the end of the investigation,” the presiding magistrate told the court.
Magistrate Alagbe further stated that Dr. Omar Jah also testified before the court that he is deputy Vice Chancellor at the UTG, and that Professor Muhammed O. Kah took over the UTG and had made tremendous improvements at the UTG.
Mariama Jom, an internal auditor at the UTG also testified, he said.
Still delivering his judgment, Magistrate Alagbe told the court that Professor Kah also gave evidence, and told the court that the accused person at one time had a contract with the university, and that his contract expired like that of any other staff at the university and the contract was not renewed, meaning it was not terminated.
Professor Kah, he said, also told the court that the public was aware of most of his travels, because there used to be an annual report, and he must seek clearance and other supporting documents from the executive.
“Prof Kah also went on to say that when he took over the UTG, it experienced a lot of tremendous improvements,” the presiding magistrate added.
He pointed out that the accused person Gumbo Touray also gave sworn evidence, and told the court that he was appointed at the University of The Gambia by the UTG council for a 3-year contract, and his contract was subjected to renewal with at least 3 months notice.
Touray, he said, also told the court that he was among the first Gambians who started as lecturers at the UTG, noting that as a good citizen of The Gambia, he was very pleased when the UTG was established for that reason.
“I decided to come home to contribute my quota to national development,” the presiding magistrate quoted Gumbo Touray as saying.
He said Touray also told the court that in January 2011, there was a visit by the National Assembly Select Committee on Education to the UTG, where senior staff members of the UTG were invited to honestly express their opinion.
Principal Magistrate Alagbe noted that Touray told the court that during this meeting with the National Assembly select committee, he was asked to express his sincere opinions about the development of the UTG.
He said Touray told the court that after less than a month of the visit of the National Assembly Select Committee on Education, he was suspended by Professor Kah acting alone.
Investigations, the magistrate went on, had revealed that the suspension and termination of the accused person’s contract was not proper and was not in line with the UTG Act.
He added that the defence counsel, Badou S.M. Conteh, in his address to the court submitted that the accused person was not petitioning the President as the head of state of the Republic of The Gambia, but in his capacity as Chancellor of the UTG.
He said counsel further argued that his client should be acquitted and discharged, and referred the court to Augustus Prom’s financial reports on the UTG, the NDEA report and GPPA report to back up his briefs.
The trial magistrate further stated that the prosecuting officer also submitted that the accused person wrote petition to the President in his capacity as the head of state, and not in his capacity as Chancellor of the UTG.
He said the prosecutor further submitted that Professor Kah had attained his professorship through relevant institutions and, therefore, the accused person could not discredit Professor Kah’s professorship.
The prosecuting officer, he added, maintained that the appointment of Mr. Kojo, a Ghanaian national (as the UTG director of Finanace) was proper.
Still delivering the judgment, the trial magistrate indicated that the only issue that arose for determination was whether the accused person’s petition was directed to the President in his capacity as the head of the state or as Chancellor of the UTG, or whether the said information was false.
“I have totally agreed with the learned defence counsel that the accused person’s petition was addressed to the President in his capacity as the Chancellor of the UTG, not in his capacity as the head of state,’’ the Magistrate said.
He added that the defence referred the court to the NDEA report, GPPA report particularly in pages 5,6,7, and Augustus Prom’s financial report on the UTG, which the court believed.
PW7, 8 and 9 testimonies corroborated, and the court believed that a position like financial director at the UTG should not be filled through a mere telephone interview.
The Magistrate further asserted that according to Augustus Prom’s report, the contracts were awarded but there was no document or correspondence to show how contracts were awarded, and the amount involved.
He told the court that according to one of the witnesses, one of Professor Kah’s trips cost D600,000, and that Dr. Jah, the deputy Vice-Chancellor, Jenu Manneh, registrar of the UTG, Mariama Jom, internal auditor of the UTG, and Dr. Senghore were the people who seemed to be enjoying the leadership of Professor Kah, going through their evidence delivered before the court.
Therefore, he added, the court believed that Gumbo Touray was a patriotic and good citizen of this country.
He added that Touray would have maintained his silence like other UTG staff to secure his position, but instead sacrificed his position by challenging the wrongdoing of Professor Kah at the UTG.
Magistrate Alagbe added that the actions of the Vice Chancellor, Professor Kah, was not only wrongdoing, but were ridiculous in terms of his salary compared to the monthly salary of his predecessor Professor Stigen, a Norwegian national.
Therefore, as a law enforcement officer, the Magistrate said he would strongly recommend that a panel be set up to review the credentials of Professor Kah as to whether he is fit to be the Vice Chancellor of the UTG.
He added that the appointment of Mr Kojo, a Ghanaian national, was not in line with the UTG Act in terms of condition of services, more so, when Kojo had no accounting background, but instead is an MBA holder.
Source: The Point |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jan 2013 : 08:58:01
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FOROYAA BURNING ISSUES NEWS;
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 24 Feb 2013 : 09:47:03
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THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2013 DAILY OBSERVER NEWS;
"A seven-member new board of directors for the Gambia International Airlines (GIA) was recently inaugurated during a ceremony held at the company’s head office at the Banjul International Airport.
The new board is now under the chairmanship of Professor Muhammed M.O. Kah, vice chancellor of the University of The Gambia." More here  |
Edited by - kobo on 24 Feb 2013 09:47:59 |
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