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Santanfara
3460 Posts |
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Santanfara
3460 Posts |
 Posted - 03 Oct 2007 : 19:28:16
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quote:
Originally posted by Santanfara
culled from allgambian .
http://www.allgambian.net/NewsDetails.aspx?id=58
the betrayal part tow by pk jarju .
by PK Jarju
Part Two
Between 2001 to 2003 records from the Gambia Ports Authority (GPA) say 22 vessels carrying rice, oil, potatoes, and onions landed at the Banjul port in the name of the Youth Development Enterprise (YDE). YDE had a credit account with GPA and records show that not a single butut was paid into that account. Despite the non-payment of its mounting debts, the company's imports were cleared from the port. In other words, YDE was accorded preferential treatment. Baba Jobe only paid for two imports that were made on his name. D299, 000 relating to the discharge of cargo from MV Adele and D623, 000 for the discharge of goods from MV Waranee Naree.
With regards to Customs and Excise, YDE opened a similar account and presented a blank Trust Bank Limited cheque bearing the signature of Baba Jobe as collateral. The management of Customs allowed him to clear his goods without submitting his Single Administrative Document (SAD) forms. Though not ever paying a butut, Ousman Mboge, managing director of Customs and Excise at the time, never gave orders for his men to suspend delivery of all YDE imports until it settle its previous debts.
For over three years, the soldiers, police and NIA officers Manning the ports to ensure that customs and port charges were paid by all trucks exiting the port, allowed YDE lorries to leave the port without even checking whether the required paper work were satisfactorily completed.
One would have wondered why GPA and Customs allowed such a blunder to happen? The answer is simple. Baba Jobe was running the president's business and asking him to pay his tariffs would be seen as challenging the president. Come on, Baba Jobe was the president's enforcer and it is only a civil servant who wants to wake up the next morning without a job, who will dare challenge him.
The non-payment of port and customs tariffs reached the desk of several international financial institutions including IMF and the World Bank which began to apply pressure on the regime. With the country's economy in the red epitomised by a sharp depreciation of the Dalasi against foreign currencies, President Jammeh sacrificed Famara Jatta, his Secretary of State for Finance and Economic Affairs. The Gambian economy was hijacked by some close associates of the president and Famara Jatta had openly admitted that there was nothing he could do to stop the free fall of the economy.
Melting ice
The once solid friendship between President Jammeh and Baba Jobe began to melt down after the 2001 general elections. The president was concerned with the position of power Baba Jobe commanded within the youths and the APRC. In order to maintain a safe distance, Baba Jobe was made majority leader and National Assembly Member for Jara Central. With his office now at the National Assembly Building on Independence Avenue, Baba Jobe was often left in the dark.
Secondly, with Baba Jobe under UN sanctions, he was of no use to Jammeh. He cannot fly around the globe with the New Millennium Airline to run the mafia activities of President Jammeh. With the UN recommending the freeze of his assets, Jammeh wanted to keep his distance from someone who is being regarded as an international criminal.
Some unconfirmed reports say the friendship suffered a final breakdown after Baba Jobe was named as being among the financial backers of the June 2003 attempted coup to overthrow Maaouiya Sid Ahmed Ould Taya, former president of Mauritania, who was a close ally of President Jammeh. President Jammeh was reported to have gone absolutely bananas. It is reported that he was even concerned about his own security taking into consideration the influence Baba Jobe commanded both in the country and abroad. Rather unfortunately for Baba Jobe, the issue coincided with an audit report of YDE's account which highlighted a series of financial irregularities.
With the pressure from international financial institutions mounting, President Jammeh got the way to destroy Baba Jobe without even touching him. Knowing the financial status of YDE, instructions were given to both the managing director of the Gambia Ports Authority, and the director general of Customs, to demand payment from YDE.
Reacting to the demands, Baba Jobe said: "We were very surprised when we got letters from GPA and Customs asking us to pay for our imports. We had a gentleman agreement with the Department of State for Finance and Economic Affairs some years ago, which allows us to sell our goods far below the market price in return for the non-payment of import charges."
The GPA's director of finance, Aziz Samba sent series of letters to YDE demanding payment for their imports. And in one of their correspondences dated September 27, 2003, Mr. Samba on behalf of his boss threatened to institute legal actions against YDE if the debt was not paid. GPA's attorney, Ida Drammeh, also wrote some demand for payment letters to YDE. And concerned with such demands, Baba Kanteh, YDE's managing director wrote to GPA requesting a discount on the D26, 193, 241.13 which was the amount outstanding. Mr. Kanteh also proposed a monthly payment of D100, 000 beginning from November 15, 2003. Both requests were flatly rejected by GPA.
Customs on the other hand communicated some figures to YDE as the total amount of unpaid tariffs. Insiders said YDE management disputed the amount and requested invoices to be sent to them for the imports made between 2001 and 2003. On receiving the invoices, YDE representatives including Buba Baldeh, secretary to YDE board and Buba Senghore held several meetings with Malamin (Tongy) Sanyang, a senior collector and other Customs officials in order to reconcile the amount stated as outstanding with the invoices.
Meanwhile, realising the implications, Baba Jobe in October 2003 held a board meeting at the YDE office on Kairaba Avenue during which matters concerning the payment demands were discussed. In a bid to avoid liability, Baba Jobe relinquished 100 per cent of his YDE shares, which he distributed between Hamidou Baldeh, Buba Senghore, Momodou Sulla, and two others. And funnily enough, neither of them even paid a butut for the shares.
As the net began to close on them, Baba Jobe and his YDE team held meetings with Dodou Bammy Jagne, then permanent secretary at the Department of State for Finance and Economic Affairs, Alieu Ngum, Secretary General Office of the President and some government officials to devise a payment plan.
The fall of a giant
On Thursday, November 13, 2003, Mai Fatty, Baba Jobe's lawyer, was in the middle of a case consultation in his Law Associates Chambers on Satellite House, Banjul, when his cell phone rang.
"Honourable", he said as he flipped open his red Sonny Erickson. "How are you today?"
"I'm not fine. I have just been picked up and detained at the police headquarters," Baba Jobe replied with a soft and calm tone.
"Honourable can you please stop joking. I'm in the middle of a meeting with some clients," the young lawyer said.
"I swear to Allah. I'm serious," Mr Jobe said.
For a couple of minutes, Mr. Fatty sat on his seat staring at his would-be clients. For him and many Gambians never thought that the most popular figure in Gambian politics would ever be arrested. How can the president's right hand man be arrested? How can the most feared Baba Jobe, who gets away with everything; even murder be detained by the police?
Well it was not a joke, but a true story that shall be told for many more years to come. Baba Jobe was arrested by State Guard soldiers under the instructions of President Jammeh. He was arrested for issuing a cheque to GPA, which was dishonoured by their bank. However, prior to issuing the cheque, Baba Kanteh, YDE's managing director was reported to have made it clear to GPA that the cheque cannot be cashed as there was no money in their account.
Although both GPA and Customs have denied reporting Baba Jobe to the police or filing any case against him, he was detained by the police, who said they were investigating reports of non-payment of port and custom tariffs by YDE. His arrest attracted huge gathering of APRC National Assembly Members and hundreds of onlookers who were trying to see another development in Gambian history. While Baba Jobe was held at the Fraud Squad where he spent the night, the Inspector General of Police, Landing 13 Badjie gave strict orders that he should not be allowed to talk to anyone.
Due to the love they had for their majority leader, some National Assembly Members like Ramzia Diab and Nyimansata Sanneh-Bojang spent the night in Law Associates Chamber, where Mai Fatty was preparing his bail application. The following morning, Baba Jobe was arraigned before Justice Madabuchi Abuchi Paul together with Baba Kanteh and the YDE on six counts of economic crimes. A not guilty plea was entered and a bail application was made by Mr. Fatty. However, something dramatic happened.
When the director of Public Prosecution, Chief Akomaye Agim, (now high court judge) rose to object to the bail application, an NIA officer sitting behind him pulled his robe and handed him a note. After reading the note, the DPP told the court that the state will not object to the bail application. The said note is said to have been from the Secretary General. Apparently, Abdoulie Kujabi, (then NIA director general and a friend of Baba Jobe), who was at the time in the UK had managed to persuade President Jammeh for him to be granted bail. Kujabi was said to have been concerned about the rift the case would bring within the APRC and the threats it may cause on national security.
The trial began a few days later with Baba Jobe's defence team, which included Ousman Sillah as head, Edward Gomez, Lamin Jobarteh, Mai Fatty, Lamin Camara and Lamin K Mboge ripping the prosecution witnesses apart. Ousman Sillah in particular, employed a hard cross examination technique which makes state witnesses tremble in the witness box.
Meanwhile, following his return to the country, Abdoulie Kujabi was said to have tried to broker a behind the scene deal between the state and Baba Jobe, which would have included YDE paying the full amount it owed to GPA and Customs with interest and the state dropping the charges.
However, this did not go down well with Edward Singhateh and other original members of the revolution who for many years were living under the shadow of Baba Jobe. Determined to get their enemy out of the way, a close associate of Baba Jobe was bankrolled to provide information on the activities of the majority leader. On December 20, 2003, Baba Jobe had a meeting with some of his close associates at his residence in Manjai Kunda during which some issues threatening to national security were said to have been discussed.
In pursuit of their evil desire, Singhateh in collaboration with some security officers were alleged to have organised the shooting of Lawyer Ousman Sillah on Friday, December 26, 2003, who was perceived an obstacle to their scheme of seeing Baba Jobe sink. Shortly after Sillah's shooting, details of Baba Jobe's meeting with his associates were sent to President Jammeh, which alleged that Sillah's shooting was conducted by Baba Jobe's associates in a bid to tarnish President Jammeh and the government's image.
Jammeh was said to have gone absolutely bunkers and ordered for the immediate arrest of everyone who was at the said meeting including Baba Jobe. And on Saturday, December 27, 2003, while returning from a visit to his native village of Jarra Karantaba, Baba Jobe and his colleagues were arrested by police officers at Sibanor before being escorted under tight security to the Police Training School in Yundum, where they were detained. Lawyer Mai Fatty was also arrested and detained for one night at the NIA headquarters, while Kuru Kongira was detained for many days at the NIA headquarters and was released some weeks later due to ill health. Baba Jobe's driver, who was believed to have been a member of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), was detained for some weeks before being deported to Liberia.
A High Court order issued by Justice Wallace Grant for the unconditional release of Baba Jobe and his men was ignored by the state. It was not until three months later when all the men except Baba Jobe were released after a similar application was granted by Justice MA Paul. Baba Jobe's detention was made legal on the basis that it would jeopardise with investigations into a case of national security.
To be continued
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Surah- Ar-Rum 30-22
"And among His signs is the creation of heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. verily, in that are indeed signs for men of sound knowledge." Qu'ran
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Santanfara
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