Yesterday, Mr Mambury Njie, appeared before Justice Mikahilu Abdullah of Banjul High Court charged on two counts of negligence of official duties and economic crime for his failure to advise the government on the mining activities of Carnegie Minerals Gambia Ltd and for his recklessness by failing to appropriately advise the government on matters pertaining to the mining operations of the company which resulted in monetary loss to the state. He had denied any wrong doing and was remanded in custody.
Malick Sanyang, a police officer at anti-fraud squad at police headquarters, Banjul, was yesterday called by the state prosecutors to shed light on the role he played as the head of the team that investigated the matter.
He testified: “I could remember some time back I was assigned by my boss to investigate a case involving the accused and the investigation centered on Carnegie Mineral Company as how it came into the country and how it secured a mining licence. We conducted our investigation and during the course of our investigation, the panel made a request to the geological department for the request of all relevant documents relating to Carnegie Mineral Company. The department provided the panel with all the necessary documents including the details of the shipment.
“The later noticed that while the accused was serving as the secretary general of the civil service, the company applied for a mining licence which was granted by the office of the accused which made way for the company to start the mining process.”
According to the policeman, a statement was obtained from the accused and subsequent investigations revealed that there were correspondences between the geological department, the company and the Office of the President. Those documents and the cautionary statement of the accused were accordingly admitted as exhibits by the court without objection raised by the defence.
Under cross-examination by the defence, the police witness stated: “Yes it is true I was given a guideline during an investigation into this matter and key among them was who brought Carnegie Mineral Company into the country. It was the geological department that revealed to the panel of investigation as to how Carnegie Mineral came into the country and this was contained in the investigation report.”
The case was then adjourned to May 19 for the state to call their next witness when the issue of bail would be looked into by the court.
On Monday, police prosecutors withdrew charges of negligence of official duties against Mr Njie at the Banjul Magistrates Court as similar charges were filed against the embattled former minister at the high court.
By Baba Sillah
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