By Binta A Bah
The High Court in Banjul has issued an order for the deputy permanent secretary, ministry of fisheries to appear in court in the next sitting in the trial of former permanent secretary, Bamba Banja.
Dr Banja is accused of accepting bribe from a Chinese private company.
The subpoena came following a request from the state prosecutor, Saikou Lamin Jobarteh to have the deputy PS Malang Darboe, appear in court after he refused demand to come to court to testify. “He refused to come and testify in this case,” Jobarteh said, before Justice Bakre passed the order.
Testifying earlier was the current PS, Omar Gibba who had worked under Banja as his deputy. The audio purported to be a conversation between Banja and a Chinese interpreter, Ming Ning was played in court for Gibba to tell the court if it is actually Banja talking to Ming.
After listening to the recording, Gibba told the court that he could recognize the voice of Banja who made a call to the then minister that he has received D100,000 from the Chinese businessman. He said he could also recognize Banja’s voice when he mentioned to the Chinese men that they used the wrong nets.
Under cross-examination with Banja’s lawyer, Gibba admitted that he was never called by the committee during the investigation. He said he was only notified last week to testify in the case.
The trial continues.
