By Baba Sillah
The former director general of the renamed National Intelligence Agency yesterday appeared at the Janneh Commission.
Yankuba Badgie who is being detained at the state central prison in Banjul and is standing trial for the murder of UDP activist Solo Sandeng, was escorted by heavily armed security personnel.
Eyewitnesses said Badgie refused to alight his vehicle when he was brought in querying that he would not give testimony in the absence of a legal counsel. However, he was eventually persuaded to meet with the investigators after which he appeared before the commission.
Badgie was listed as a close associate of the former president by the commission.
Counsel Amie Bensouda asked him whether he was served with an assets declaration form which he confirmed.
He was advised to fill out the form and submit it to the prison authorities who will forward it to the commission.
The former state intelligence chief gave a synopsis of his career in various institutions including Gamtel, police, Office of the President as director of intelligence analysis and later as the director general of the NIA.
According to him, he studied telecommunication in the United Sates but prior to that he worked at Gamtel as technician.
In response to Counsel Bensouda’s probing, Badgie said he knows about the mineral extraction company APAM but had nothing to do with it, explaining: “I would not know whether the former president had any connection with Gamico or APAM and I had no transaction with Tony Ghattas [former MD, APAM].”
Badgie was recalled in the afternoon for further testimonies after which he was returned to his prison holding cell.
He is also among the associates of Jammeh who were imposed with a travel ban by the US government after the former Gambian strongman was dislodged from power.
