As Supt. Sanyang’s Case Gathers Momentum, Yahya Jammeh’s Criminal Web Crashes,
Over D40M Stolen
Interior Minister Sonko, Ex-NIA Chiefs, Others Named
Interior Minister, Ousman Sonko
By EBRIMA G. SANKAREH, Editor-In-Chief
The on-going legal saga involving police Superintendent Manlafi Sanyang an errant cyclist turned presidential wheeler-dealer, continues to raise eyebrows among Gambians and every court sitting has sent shock waves with reverberations of epic proportions. Some months ago, after we broke news of Superintendent Sanyang’s arrest with erstwhile State House presidential guard Lieutenant Bakary Camara, The Gambia Echo promised to expose the complex criminal web involving several government vehicles, tractors, trucks and other agricultural equipment valued at over 40Million Gambian Dalasis. It can be recalled that on June 10th, 2008, Senior Magistrate Kayode Olajubutu of the Banjul Magistrates’ Court sentenced Lt. Camara to 18 months in jail. Today we have finished our investigations. Our lead State House operative Kissy Kissy Mansa and our NIA whistle blower Kungkiling Tamala have provided us the entire dossier detailing the racket.
Reveals Kissy, “the vehicle theft charges preferred against Ex-Police Superintendent Manlafi Sanyang could have serious implications if properly investigated. Manlafi is very unfortunate to be the victim in this case. Probably because he discharged his duties with arrogance towards people perceived to be anti-Jammeh coupled with his ‘blind loyalty’ to Jemus, which certainly made him infamous hence the general lack of sympathy from Gambians. Manlafi might have been involved but is he alone asks Kissy? The vehicle theft is an elaborate scheme involving several government officials among them Cabinet Ministers, senior police and NIA officials and this has been happening unabated for years. Surprisingly, some of the stolen vehicles are President Jammeh’s personal vehicles.”
According to Kissy, any attempt to fix this complex corruption web without arresting the following persons would be a manifest mockery of justice and a blatant act of witch hunting by the powers that be: Abdoulie Kujabie erstwhile NIA Director General, Ousman Sonko Secretary of the Interior, Ansumana Marena (a.k.a Julakay), Landing Badjie (Alias #13 Badjie) also a former NIA Director General now on peace keeping mission in Darfur, Azziz Tamba currently serving sentence at Janjangbureh Prisons, Mr. Ebou Njie former Inspector General of Police, James Kujabie former Presidential Protocol Officer currently in New York, USA as well as the entire former NIA top brass- Foday Barry, Baba Saho etc, and most definitely, Baba Jobe erstwhile National Assembly Majority Leader currently serving time at Mile II Prisons.”
According to our NIA operative Kungkiling Tamala, “if Manlafi should keep quite over this, then he should be considered the biggest fool on earth.” Reveals Tamala, “Yahya Jammeh has bought fleets of vehicles ranging from salons, trucks, trailers and even tractors. The man has a penchant for machinery and whatever his intentions are for buying vehicles, these criminals masquerading as loyalists capitalize on either Yahya's ignorance or the general feeling that he too is corrupt and so steal government vehicles only to be sold as far as Senegal, Cassamance and Guinea Bissau. Sometimes vehicles would be involved in fender-benders, but they would lie to Jammeh that such vehicles are written off. They will take these vehicles to their mechanics to repair the dents and then begin the selling process with middlemen as far as the eye can see. In some instances, without the foreknowledge of the Government Vehicle Controller, Supt. Manlafi Sanyang, vehicles are loan out to people especially, Senegalese businesswomen without records. There are instances where these rogues gave out Gambia Government vehicles as gifts to girl friends or dowry to wives and such vehicles are never traced again. Recalls Tamala, “in January 2004, Ansumana Julakay Marena was detained at the NIA over a government pick up truck that he was seen driving in town with a private license plate and during interrogations, Marena told our investigators that the said vehicle was sold to him by Interior Minister Ousman Sonko (then IGP) and the matter died just then. Marena was released immediately.” Says Tamala, “during Marena’s January, 2004 grueling interrogations by our boys, numerous nefarious activities came to light. This gang of criminals who are skilled at mocked accidents, diverted tractors and several government equipment and trucks destined to the Agriculture Ministry and sold them to unscrupulous businessmen in Cassamance, Guinea Bissau and Conakry.”
In particular, the former Inspector General of police Ebou Njie and the incumbent Interior Minister Ousman Sonko were allegedly noted for this government vehicle deals. According to our findings reveals Tamala, Sonko and his collaborators like our former bosses Abdoulie Kujabie and Landing Badjie could create mocked accidents and then have the Traffic Division of the most corruptible Gambia Police Force write bizarre reports that a certain vehicle somersaulted at a certain intersection when a cow or bush pig suddenly crossed the road. The reports will sometimes create a human-interest story that in fact; the driver broke both legs, bled profusely and narrowly escaped death. Once such reports reached the Vehicle Controller’s Desk, they are given rocket speed attention, the vehicles written off and stamped for the junkyard. These same vehicles are taken to special mechanics in cohort and within two days are sold in neighboring countries at exorbitant prices. Is this not pathetic when there are pregnant women who could not have access to an ambulance asks a seemingly infuriated Tamala? According to Tamala, the former NIA Director General Abdoulie Kujabie has a fleet of passenger vehicles plying several roads in Cassamance thanks to this criminal business of diverting government vehicles for their own selfish interests.
Abdoulie Kujabie courtesy of The Point
Alleges Tamala, together with his brother James Kujabie ex-presidential Protocol Officer, Abdoulie Kujabie as NIA Chief seized his proximity to power and began an elaborate and extensive corruption ring unheard in Gambian history and within a short period, these hitherto unknown political quantities became household names ravaging and rampaging on national resources as if though Yahya Jammeh had slaughtered an elephant to redeem the poorest of the poor. James Kujabie, whose only qualification was his ethnic affiliation with the errant Head of state, became the first Gambian to drive a Jeep Cherokee and according to Tamala, the disgraced protocol officer had his triumphant moments drumming his chest as the first Gambian to drive a Jeep Cherokee. James, who like most Gambians grew up in rags and obscurity became so drunken with power and so arrogant that at one moment in his life, he and his very vindictive, corrupt and obsequious brother Abdoulie Kujabie- a bespectacled sorry dude with little or no education to run a police station let alone an intelligence agency may have thought that Allah only operates from Kujabie Kunda a cruel hoax they came to realize only after Yahya Jammeh, their perceived savior, turned his madness at them forcing James to flee to New York and sending Abdoulie to Mile II. Today, the duo are like pariahs denounced, rejected, dejected and wanted for so many crimes and excesses that they consciously commissioned while in office and sooner rather than later, they too will have their day in court and there is no escaping this reality.
Likewise Landing Badjie affectionately known by his police badge number, hence the #13 Badjie; probably the most unfortunate number to be assigned a Gambian police officer. Like Daba Marena (executed in 2006), Foday Barry, Baba Saho, Ousman Sonko and Abdoulie Kujabie, #13 Badjie is a disgrace to policing and to every good police officer. Says Tamala, Badjie too is at the heart of this racket and like the Kujabies, Ousman Sonko and Njie, he benefited enormously from this scheme. According to Tamala, #13 Badjie needs to be investigated for very serious crimes way beyond vehicular activities. Alleges Tamala, “Badjie is probably the most vicious intelligence officer Gambia ever had with a propensity to loose his temper and torture detainees to death if good men are not around. There is a particular case involving a European national who was suspecting of spying for a European nation and after his encounter with Badjie, the man was bleeding all over. Badjie told us that he thought it was better to finish the man because if released, he could die and that European nation may bring down the Jammeh government. He put the severely tortured man in one of our official vehicles and drove at brake neck speed to Brumang Bridge in close proximity to Kalagi Police Post. Police sources at Kalagi said gunshots were heard in the fringes of the River Gambia by the thick mangroves and within minutes, Badjie appeared at the station and told them that he was taking care of a troublemaker but the situation was under control.” What happened to the man called “Spy-X” is subject to conjecture. Ironically, that same officer, #13 Badjie (a beneficiary of a British government scholarship) after he was arrested for running afoul of Yahya Jammeh was jailed at Mile II and is now on peacekeeping mission in Darfur to prevent bandits from killing innocent citizens. That is a withering indictment of peacekeeping and Landing Badjie is certainly no different from Darfur’s loose criminals and one day, he too will face justice. As if ironies will never end in Jammeh’s Gambia, it was the same criminals who were asked to investigate the death of Deyda Hydara!!
However, in the gallery of Gambian rogues and criminals none matches Interior Minister Ousman Sonko a callously remorseless fellow with a propensity for violence to maintain the status quo. Although born Ousman Badjie, he prefers his Sonko name for reasons obvious to this honorary Mandinka man and the Mandinka know damn well that Interior Minister Sonko’s real family name is Badjie. While changing names is not bad, changing names for criminal intent is punishable by law and this guy has blood all over his soul. Like the rest, we ask that he too face the courts and explain how they have defrauded the nation all these years, diverting government vehicles into private use and selling them to foreign lands.
Says Kungkiling Tamala; “I am please begging President Jammeh to release Manlafi and constitute an independent body to properly investigate this. Remember it was this same Ansumana Marena (Julakay) who used his family relations with our former Director General Daba Marena and lied against Baba Jobe and hijacked part of Baby’s business. He is a criminal who should be sent out of APRC. He capitalized on Manlafi’s problem and took away his second wife; a daughter of Alhajj Sambujang Jagne dethroned Chief of Farafenni and married her recently. Julakay is a liar and he is now using his friendship with Ousman Sonko to victimize people. Please constitute an Independent Enquiry into the vehicle theft scandal and then and only then will you know the extent of this scheme and the money stolen from The Gambia Government. You might end up realizing that some of your vehicles, including tractors are now working in private farms in Cassamance, northern Senegal and even Bissau and officers that you once trusted like Landing Badjie and Abdoulie played parts, Mr. President.”