By Lamin Cham
The attorney general has written a request to the chief justice ordering an inquest into the death of Dawda Fadera, former Gambian ambassador to the United States.
Since the ambassador died at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital on Sunday, speculation has been making the rounds that he had been poisoned.
The Standard has learnt that an autopsy was conducted on the body before it was released for interment late Monday evening. The result of the autopsy has not been made public.
However, The Standard saw a copy of an official letter from the AG’s Chambers addressed to the chief justice ordering an inquest in the death. The letter read:
“Following circumstances which raised reasonable suspicion with regard to the cause of death of [Dawda Fadera], the Honourable Attorney General acting under Section 11 of the Coroner’s Act Cap 7, Laws of The Gambia, would like Your Lordship to order an inquest touching on the death of Dawda Fadera.”
In response, the chief justice assigned Principal Magistrate Sidi Jobarteh of the Banjul Magistrates Court as the coroner to inquire into the death.
Dawda Fadera was born in Nema, Kiang East, and attended Muslim High School before bagging degrees in Sierra Leone and Britain. He served as a permanent secretary and head of the civil service before being appointed The Gambia’s ambassador to Washington.
