By Tabora Bojang
Police have advised two Gamtel- Gamcel directors to take their defamation complaint against a staff member to the Ombudsman or other relevant authorities saying they do not deal with such cases.
The directors are seeking redress for what they called defamation against them by a staff member Pierre Njie who they accused of making defamatory allegations against them during an interview online.
Njie is the spokesperson of Gamtel/Gamcel staff affected by the ongoing privatisation of the companies. According to Askanwi media, Njie conducted an interview with Fanta Tambadou, a podcaster based in Germany where he expressed concern over the alleged disappearance of D13.4 million staff contributions, which were deducted from their salaries but not paid into the Credit Union Account.
During the interview, he reportedly branded Gamcel finance director Mustapha Conteh and Gamtel finance director Kebba Kinteh of being “corrupt” adding that the duo have retired but continue to “ruin everything” and “destroying so many lives.”
The directors reportedly reacted by lodging a complaint at the police headquarters with demands for the video to be removed.
Askanwi reported that following the complaint, Pierre Njie was instructed to take down the interview which he accused the two directors of corruption and further requested to return to the police.
Yesterday dozens of Gamcel staff accompanied Mr Njie to the police to show solidarity while pledging to stand with him in the case.
When contacted, police assistant spokesperson ASP Mariama Fatty confirmed that the matter was reported and the parties were present at the police station yesterday morning. “But we advised them to follow the right channels and referred them to either the Office of the Ombudsman or Department of Labour because it is not within the jurisdiction of the police to hear cases of defamation of character. So they were referred,” assistant PRO Fatty said.
Background
The Gambia government has sold 80 percent of its shares in Gamcel to a company called YCell, a move it says aims to revive the company and modernise its network infrastructure while an unnamed private company is set to take over Gamtel in a public-private partnership worth US$50 million.
These developments caused widespread discontent among affected over 600 staff who are to be removed or laid off. The government maintained it is providing them adequate compensation.
Pierre Njie has been one of the leading voices in the staff demands to secure all their benefits.
