Mr Amadou Samba said this in a testimony he gave at the Banjul Magistrates Court in a 1.5 million dalasi theft case involving the former Kanilai Farms Manager.
Mr Conteh is standing trial on a single count of theft of allegedly D1,538,804.95 being the property of Kanilai Family Farms. He however denied any wrongdoing.
Testifying as the sixth prosecution witness yesterday, Mr Samba said he did give the sum of 450,000 dalasi to Mr Conteh, but did not know how he spent the money.
He added: “Sometime in October 2012, I received a sum of D450,000 from President Jammeh to hand it over to Mr Conteh for the purchase of office furniture. I remember handing over D450, 000 to Mr Conteh in October 2012. I was only given the said money to hand it over to Mr Conteh and apart from that, I don’t know anything regarding the matter.”
Asked by the police prosecutor, Sub-inspector Alpha Badjie, as to where the furniture was to be taken, Mr Samba replied that they were supposed to be taken to Kanilai Family Farms.
Meanwhile, under cross-examination by defence lawyer Lamin Mboge, Mr Samba was pressed to tell the court whether he knew that Mr Conteh had purchased the furniture, but he replied by saying, ‘I wouldn’t know that.”
Lawyer Mboge at that point referred Mr Samba to exhibit B – police investigations report – and asked him whether he was aware that Mr Conteh had bought the furniture at a sum of 142, 000 dalasi.
Mr Samba however maintained: “As far as I know, I handed over the sum of 450,000 dalasi. I cannot remember whether Mr Conteh came to me with receipts and invoices after purchasing the equipment. All what I can remember is that I handed over the sum of D450, 000 to Mr Conteh. The letter on page 34 of the police report emanated from the Office of the President and was addressed to Lang Conteh.”
]]>
