By Sirrah Touray
Amadou Kora, one of the biggest cattle dealers in the country, alledged to have participated in the sale of former president Jammeh’s cattle, yesterday gave evidence before the panel of investigators of the National Assembly.
Kora began by claiming that he was never directly involved in the sale of the cattle in Kanilai and that his presence there was out of curiosity, as he wanted to see how the village, famous for being the home of the former president, looks like .
He recalled that a former registrar general Mr Alieu Jallow was the one in charge of sales on that particular day, stressing that he was never invited to take part in the sales nor was he promised anything.
According to Mr Kora, he asked Mr Jallow the price of one particular cattle and when he was told that it was going for D5,000, he immediately advised Mr Jallow to instead sell the cattle for D12,000., drwaing from his experience as a cattle dealer .
He added that although Mr Jallow welcomed his intervention, the buyers were not pleased with him but he averred that his advice for Jallow to increase the price was justified by the size of the cattle and informed by his experience in cattle dealing.
“The price Mr Jallow was selling the cattle was very cheap. So I had to keep advising him to adjust prices of the cattle,”Kora stated.
Asked why he interfered in the sales as a private citizen with no official position in the arrangement, he replied that he believed they could make more money because the cattle are public assets and should not be sold anyhow.
Kora concluded that when he wanted to leave, Mr Jallow wanted him to stay, realising that he was helpful to him on the ground.
He clarified that he spent about two days helping and was not paid for his service.
