By Arret Jatta
The Supreme Court of The Gambia yesterday heard testimonies from two state witnesses, Chief of Protocol Alhagie Ceesay and his junior, in the case of former Auditor General, Modou Ceesay who is challenging the legality of his dismissal.
When asked if he had seen Modou Ceesay’s appointment letter, the Chief Protocol said he saw the letter addressed to the Chief of Staff, and maintained that the president had consulted Ceesay who had accepted the appointment before the letter was issued.
He further revealed that other appointments were made on the same day, such as Babucarr Joof being reassigned to the Ministry of Defense, and Cherno Amadou Sowe appointed as the new auditor general.
“After meeting with the president, Ceesay and Sowe informed me of their appointments, and I congratulated them. The president later confirmed their acceptance, and a press release was issued to that effect,” COP Ceesay said.
At this stage the lawyer for the state Ida Drammeh asked COP Ceesay if he was aware that the president wanted to stop a certain audit.
“Since 2017, I never witnessed anything like that,” Alhagie Ceesay replied.
Counsel Lamin J Darbo for the defense asked about the procedure for handing over appointment letters, suggesting that the envelope containing the former auditor general’s supposed appointment letter may have been opened before it was handed to him.
Darboe also put it to the COP that he was aware that Modou Ceesay had not actually accepted the appointment, and that he, the COP is just trying to cover up the fact that the president had tried to appoint someone who had not accepted the position.
Another witness, Wuday Ceesay, a senior protocol official, claimed she ushered Modou Ceesay into the president’s office and that he had come out smiling and said to her, “Sister, I’m appointed as Minister of Trade. “I replied, brother, congratulations, may it favor you,” Wuday Ceesay told the court.
At this stage, defense counsel Darbo asked Wuday if Modou Ceesay was singing or dancing when he came out of the president’s office, to which Wuday replied, “No, but he was smiling and told me he was appointed, and I congratulated him.”
The defense counsel suggested to both witnesses that Modou Ceesay had not actually been appointed, and that the whole process was a sham.
However, the witnesses maintained that the appointment had been made and that Ceesay had been informed.
The former auditor general himself came under cross-examination by Counsel Ida Drammeh, during which he confirmed receiving a letter from the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) dated September 1, 2025, copied to the Office of the President on an issue related to the GRA.
Counsel I Drammeh also questioned Ceesay about his acceptance of the appointment, suggesting that he had initially accepted and later changed his mind. Ceesay denied this, saying “No, I didn’t change my mind after I received the letter I told the president I will get back to him and I did so, by rejecting it,” Modou Ceesay said.
