By Mafugi Ceesay
Islamic preacher and Imam Ba Kawsu Fofana, whose controversial sermons have landed him in trouble with former President Yahya Jammeh, yesterday appeared before the TRRC to explain his frosty relation with the Jammeh regime on one hand and the Supreme Islamic Council on the other.
He accused Jammeh of ordering his men to break his finger during his detention and torture at the notorious National Intelligence Agency.
He said he knew of Jammeh’s involvement through exiled former Interior Minister Ousman Sonko.
But according to Imam Fofana, Jammeh has paid for his cruelty when starting from his own expensive medical treatment to the crumbling of his regime
He continued: “It is the President of SIC, Imam Muhammed Lamin Touray and Imam Abdoulie Fatty who incited Yahya Jammeh to arrest and detain me at the NIA.”
He said he was tortured by ten men with sticks, pipes and plastic bags among other whips mostly dead in the night.
He too accused former State House Imam Abdoulie Fatty of misleading Yahya Jammeh against the Shia Muslim sect prompting the former leader to declare that Shias will not be allowed to operate in the country.
Ba Kawsu further claimed that the same Imam Fatty influenced Jammeh to dismantle the former Supreme Islamic Council under the leadership of Banding Drammeh who along with his executive, he added, were effectively expelled from the leadership of SIC. He said Imam Fatty started the campaign against Banding on a Friday, and the next day, the executive was fired by Jammeh.
He said the aim of Jammeh was to clear those who disagreed with him on the sighting of the moon. He said the SIC introduced hand-raising as a method of voting which many rejected.
He said the Council had reported him to Jammeh each time Muslims observed Eid prayers on different days. “They often tell him that I was the one who changed people through my sermons,” he said.
Imam Fofana accused Imam Fatty of instigating or influencing Jammeh to ban Omar Kololi Fofana and Dr. Dumbuya from preaching anywhere.
