Africa-Press – Gambia. In Part IV of The Big Interview, erstwhile Point GM tackled questions about The Point’s Old Yundum land deal, his detention at the police station and germane issues.
Excerpts:
You told us earlier on that Pap Saine came first and demanded that you give him one million Dalasi from the proceeds of the sale of The Point’s land at Old Yundum. Please, elaborate.
PHILIP KOTEY: Certainly. Pap came first to say he wanted D1m to be given to him privately. A cheque was drawn for him but when he went to pay the money to his account, they told him that…look, we don’t take this kind of money by cheque. The bank people advised him to conduct the transaction through a bank transfer. He informed me about it and we went to the bank to transfer the money. He (Pap) later sent Baba and said I should give him D2.2m and it was given to Baba and for whatever reason, only Pap and Baba knew.
So, how about the D200,000 that you said was delivered to one Mamadi to pay rent?
PHILIP KOTEY: I gave Mamadi D200,000 as part-payment for office rent. Mamadi went to the Catholic mission to pay but later telephoned me to say that there was no receipt at the mission. I told him so the whole Catholic mission didn’t have a receipt. I said Mamadi, if they don’t have a receipt take the money back to the bank until such time they get receipts. Five minutes later, Baba called me and said these people said they didn’t get a receipt. I told him that I’ve already told Mamadi to take the money to the bank. Baba and Mamadi knew what they did to that money. Up to now, they are the only ones, who knew what they did to that money.
But we’ve heard that a portion of the proceeds from the land deal was sent to Ecobank. Is this correct?
PHILIP KOTEY: Yes, we dedicated D650,000 to pay salary arrears. But Baba went to FIbank and with the help of some girls there, including one girl called Sainabou, transferred the money to an Ecobank account. I wasn’t in the know and when I knew about it, I said… what was Baba doing at the bank when he knew that he was not a signatory to the account. I told Pap that anytime I went to the bank, they kept telling me this boy was here and I kept telling Pap to do something about it but he wouldn’t listen.
You hinted that Pap and Baba feasted on the land money but did you notice any change(s) in their lifestyles?
PHILIP KOTEY: When they took the monies, they went and bought cars. Baba bought a Range Rover and Pap went to buy a Nissan 4 Wheel. You see the whole thing.
And, they didn’t want the staff to know what had happened. Pap was telling the staff that it was his son, who sent him money from Europe, to buy a car. This is not right because the day they were going to buy the cars, I knew about it. You see the whole thing. And, Baba only wanted to bluff around. Bluff around with nothing. No proper Western education. No skills. Nothing. And, he had people to follow him.
But did you, at any time, draw Pap’s attention to the plight of the suffering staff?
PHILIP KOTEY: Certainly. I told Pap that the staff are number one but they say they couldn’t see me. They say they couldn’t see Philip.
So, how did you finally find yourself in police cell?
PHILIP KOTEY: They went to the police and reported that I sold the Old Yundum land unilaterally. The police told them that we are going to invite Philip and when I went to the police, I found Baba and Pap sitting. The police told them so you people are still here. The police said then let’s see together what had happened. Baba started insulting and started telling the police that it’s just because there’s law in the country but if not, he would have… You were asking for justice for your father and look at how you are now behaving. You are threatening somebody and at the same time, fighting for justice for your father. I blame Pap for all this because I kept telling him from the word go.
But Pap and Baba, we’ve heard, made a screeching U-turn on their claim that you sold the land solo. Is that true?
PHILIP KOTEY: Indeed and guess what they told the police! They told the police that they sold off the land because the road was coming but I told the police that what Baba and Pap were saying was not true. There was no road coming to take the place. I’ve negotiated that years ago.
Why do you think Pap and Baba should lie to the police about a company property?
PHILIP KOTEY: They just wanted a coverup to sell the place to share it in their pockets. They were looking for money to buy cars and Baba wanted to party at clubs and things like that. I said this is not a correct thing. The police said we did not see anything wrong with what Philip has done but they persisted.
And, there were times when Pap placed an enormous confidence in you.
PHILIP KOTEY: Certainly. In fact, let me tell you a story. You see, it was a struggle when The Point was removed from Garba Jahumpa Road. They were really struggling and it coincided with my trip to Ghana to attend the funeral of my stepmother. In that situation when he was so perplexed and did not have anybody to turn to, he sent the driver to the airport to pick me up when I left for only four days. You had to send your driver because you were perplexed and didn’t know what to do. And, it was only Philip, who can help you out. I cut my trip short and had to rush back. When I came, I took Pap to FIBank and we talked to Modou Musa and he helped us. That’s how we got the Westfield office. Pap, at this time, can say right to people that we are going to thank all those, who helped The Point to survive, without mentioning my name. He went to people, who did not know much about The Point, invited them in an office I rented without me. This is 100 per cent betrayal. He is following Baba. Baba has nothing in the head. No ideas.
How do you see the future of The Point under Pap and Baba?
PHILIP KOTEY: How can this company survive with all these things? They think Point has money. Every day, Pap will put money in his pocket and go to Banjul. They have reduced the paper to nothing. To use seven rims, they will use three rims. The background of the money they knew how they dealt with it. How can this company survive? How can this continue? They will go to the bank without my knowledge. It’s ignorance that was driving all this. Two of them have no skills and they are moving together.
What pained me most was that they went to the Immigration after reporting me to the police. For what? To tell them to deport me. I’ve been living in this country since 1984 and I was paying my permit and in fact, had my current permit. If Baba could tell Dawda Faye to not write anything about my trial! What are you hiding? And, you go to other media houses and tell them that we are family and don’t report this case. And, you call yourself an independent media. Why do you want to gag people? Why are you hiding and you are an Alhaji. Can you imagine.
So, you are disappointed in media houses?
PHILIP KOTEY: I am inviting all media houses to have an interview with me. I went to cell four times. It’s just that sometimes we have professionals in the police and immigration. If the police and immigration followed Pap, it would not be good. He would brag that he had helped people in high places in government and can use them against me.
The Big Interview Part 1, The Big Interview Part 2 & The Big Interview Part 3
To Be Continued….
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