Here we go again. When General Lang Tombong Tamba and others were arrested last November and charged for plotting to overthrow the government of Yahya Jammeh, I was expecting the state to produce concrete material evidences and facts linking the accused persons with the alleged coup plot.However, I was disappointed. It’s been over a month since the treason trial began and no single shred of evidence is yet to be produced in court which implicates the accused persons. What we have seen so far is testimonies of state witnesses whose characters are very very questionable.
And instead of dropping all the charges against the accused persons, the state led by the director of public prosecution, Richard Chenge, is stubbornly continuing with the case. And the techniques being employed by DPP Chenge goes further to confirm the public’s fear that the whole allegations against the accused persons are nothing but a cock and bull story.
Looking at the ongoing treason trial, it is evident that the DPP in a bid to gain more recognition and promotions from President Jammeh like his predecessor Akomaye Agim, (now Chief Justice of the Gambia) have wrongly advised the state into prosecuting General Lang Tombong Tamba despite knowing fully well that the whole coup story was a figment of imagination.
Being another Nigerian smartass in our justice system, he have connived with a self-confessed drug dealer and mercenary from Guinea Bissau, Rui Jabbi Gassama, who is currently living a luxurious life at the expense of the poor Gambian tax payers to say anything that will make the whole ridiculous story about the coup look credible.
This is very shameful and unfortunate as it shows that DPP Chenge and the state are only interested in securing a conviction for the accused and not seeing justice done contrary to the principles of justice.
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| General Lang Tombong Tamba and his co accused |
DPP Chenge has exposed himself as another greener pasture seeking locust in our country that is ready to manipulate every little opportunity to attract attention and recognition from President Jammeh.
General Lang Tombong Tamba is said to be the brain behind the alleged coup and I was expecting DPP Chenge to grill him extensively on the testimonies of the state witnesses. However, the DPP in his fishing expedition question General Tamba about the March 2006 alleged coup plot. He even went further to invite one of the alleged March 2006 coupist, Captain Bunja Darboe from the Mile Two Prisons to his office just to get anything that will keep Lang Tombong and his co-accused behind bars for the rest of their lives.
Let me remind DPP Chenge that the matter before the court is a plot to overthrow the government of Yahya Jammeh in November 2009 and not March 2006. And if General Tamba was indeed involved in that plot, why was he rewarded by the state with the rank of General and Chief of the Gambia’s Armed Forces? Why is DPP Chenge trying to implicate General Tamba in a coup plot, which none of the accused persons currently serving life jail terms for their part have never implicated him in their statements to the NIA or court testimonies? Why was General Tamba not charged with offences relating to the March 2006 coup plot?
Another interesting question is why did DPP Chenge insisted in charging OB Mbye with the alleged November 2009 coup plot despite the fact that he was released by the NIA and military investigators on the grounds that there was no case against him?
If the DPP indeed had a case, why did he want to use General Tamba, the alleged chief architect of the alleged coup as a state witness?
The answer to all the above questions is simple. The DPP does not have a case against the accused persons. As a promotion seeking bastard with knowledge about the unfairness of our justice system, the DPP is only interested in getting General Tamba and others convicted for personal gains.
DPP Chenge has compromised his position and should not continue to be the chief state prosecutor. His position has become untenable.
Treason is a serious offence, and it quite unbelievable to see many people languishing in jail in the Gambia today just because someone have accused them of plotting a coup without producing any material evidence.
To conclude, I urged DPP Chenge to immediately drop all the charges against the accused persons. The accused persons have suffered immensely. Keeping them away from their families without any prove of their involvement in an alleged coup plot is nothing but criminal.
By the way, the case against General Tamba and others reminds me of the Dumo Sarho and co treason case. Mr Sarho and others were accused by Francesco Caso, an Italian Mafia in the country in June 2000 of plotting a coup.
Without having any evidence, the state led my DPP Chenge’s predecessor, Akomaye Agim (now Chief Justice) charged the accused persons with treason.
While the accused persons were suffering and being lock up in their Mile Two Prison cells for 23 hours a day, Mr Caso, who was financially bankrupt at the time after his restaurant business in Gambia failed, was rewarded with the position of training the Junglers Unit of the State Guards. He was also allocated at the tax payer’s expense, a well furnished compound in Yundum, a flashy car and an office at State House and Kanilai.
After nearly two years of sufferings, Mr Sarho and his colleagues were found not guilty by Justice Ahmed Belgore, one of the bravest, honest and hardworking judges our country has ever had. Unsurprising, Justice Belgore was never retained by the state after the expiry of his contract.
A reader’s response
A few weeks ago, I got the letter below from a Gambian living in the United Kingdom in response to my article on the Kanilai International Festival.
In the letter, the Gambian who preferred to remain anonymous due to fear of persecution back home wrote: Hello my brother, thank you for speaking the mind of Gambians. I wish we have Gambian like you and I think is time for us to put our hands on desk and help the helpless. So that God will bless our country and our loved one who are suffering in poverty. Let God touch our heart to be stewards of our nation and prepare to do what it can take to make that lovely country and community back to where it use to be.. To put the nation interest first before our own so that our grandchildren and their children will not suffer like us. Thanks and I wish you well in your endeavour.
Your fellow citizen.
By PK Jarju
