Africa-Press – Gambia. Mamadi Kurang, the former Secretary to the Janneh Commission, has told lawmakers that the high-profile probe into ex-President Yahya Jammeh’s assets was undermined by the Justice Ministry’s tight grip on its finances and the far-reaching influence of its lead counsel.
Kurang testified on Wednesday before the National Assembly’s special select committee examining how assets traced by the commission were managed and sold. He described how, despite his role as head of the secretariat, key tasks and decisions were often handled outside his watch.
Kurang said that although he and another commissioner prepared a full operational budget, they were told the Ministry of Justice would control the money and only disburse funds when requested. “We raised concerns that this could delay our work and it did,” Kurang told the committee, warning that such an arrangement risked slowing the commission’s progress and limiting its independence.
The former secretary explained that his job was to run the administrative side and serve as the main point of contact for all commission matters. However, he described frequent overlaps with the lead counsel, who, he said, took on roles that should have remained within the secretariat’s domain. “There were administrative tasks that ideally should come through me, but the lead counsel handled them directly,” he said.
Kurang gave an example of a clash over internal information. He said the lead counsel once told him certain details were meant only for her, to which he replied that the information belonged to all Gambians.
He told lawmakers that valuations for seized properties came mainly from the Ministry of Lands, but some assets like cattle and vehicles were assessed by individuals he did not directly engage, including a private valuer named Mr. Njie, whose link to the commission, he said, likely came through the lead counsel.
Despite the constraints, Kurang maintained that the commission’s work broke new ground but stressed that any future inquiries must have a clear budget and defined lines of authority to operate independently.
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