Africa-Press – Gambia. Commissioner Abioseh George of the Janneh Commission on Tuesday testified before the National Assembly’s Special Select Committee investigating the sale and disposal of assets belonging to former President Yahya Jammeh. Her testimony shed light on the removal of the commission’s former secretary, Alhagie Mamadi Kurang, and the internal tensions that preceded his departure.
George recounted that disagreements arose after the temporary suspension of tractor sales overseen by the commission. Kurang, she said, “did not take it lightly,” despite repeated assurances that the pause was not permanent.
She testified that when the sale of the tractors was halted, Alhaji Kurang reacted strongly to the decision. She said she understood his frustration but emphasized that the suspension was only temporary, meant to allow for a review before sales resumed. However, she added that the government never followed up to restart the process, and tensions were high at the time, with Mr. Kurang unwilling to listen to further explanations.
George insisted that the commissioners had no personal animosity toward Kurang, describing the commission’s chairperson as a calming and mentoring presence during moments of discord.
“It is not particularly that the commissioners have issues with him,” she said. “There were times issues arose, and we dealt with them. I feel you could speak your mind; you don’t have to agree with me, but we speak our minds, and usually the chair, because of his age and experience, would be our unifying figure, so he did a lot of mentoring to us as well, particularly when tempers are high,” she said.
She told the committee that she personally had no issues with Mr. Kurang. “I know that because of the tempers, he wasn’t rational in some of the things,” she said.
Counsel Dibba questioned the witness about a memo sent by Mr. Kurang to the lead counsel and inquired whether any decision had been made regarding it.
The witness replied that at the time, tensions were running high within the commission, and the atmosphere was palpably strained. She explained that the commissioners had cautioned Mr. Kurang that any statement or document he produced should be supported by evidence.
She further recalled that the chairperson had advised Mr. Kurang to raise such concerns directly with him, rather than circulating them widely. The witness added that the relationship between the then secretary and the lead counsel had become notably strained.
George also acknowledged that the working relationship between Kurang and the commission’s lead counsel was strained. “It was not smooth,” she said. “I don’t know why, but from earlier on it was not a smooth working relationship. The chair had to intervene quite a lot because of his age or something, but he dealt with it.”
She further testified that they had learned cattle were to be sold by another party and received information indicating that the planes would be handled by the Ministry of Finance—an issue that raised concerns for them. She added that Kurang had attributed the matter to the lead counsel’s actions, though he lacked evidence to support this claim.
She explained that the then-Attorney General had briefed them, noting that it was not a request for their opinion.
“For me, telling me is the decision that has been taken that he’s relieved. I never said anything because I felt it wasn’t about asking me what I think; it was more about informing us of the decision. Which I felt was a shame because we started the process together; it would have been nice to complete it together.”
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