By: Nicholas Bass
Banjul High Court, presided over by Justice Ebrima Jaiteh, on Tuesday acquitted and discharged Mansa Sumareh and Ebrima J.S. Sanneh, accused of forging a letter from the Office of the President.
It could be recalled that Sumareh and Sanneh, sometime in the year 2019, in Banjul and other diverse places in The Gambia, within the Jurisdiction of the court, allegedly forged a purported letter of approval from the Office of the President for the issuance of a Gambian Diplomatic Passport to one Bakary Suso.
They were charged with eight counts ranging from conspiracy, forgery, altering documents, procuring the execution of documents, and making documents without the authority’s permission.
Accordingly, at the beginning of the case, Sumareh and Sanneh denied the charges pressed against them, and the prosecution presented eight witnesses during the trial.
Thereafter, Sumareh and Sanneh opened their defense testimonies.
Delivering his judgment, the trial Judge, Justice Jaiteh, stated that defense lawyer S. Gaye, throughout the trial, persuasively
demonstrated significant inconsistencies in the prosecution’s evidence.
Justice Jaiteh stated that the fourth prosecution witness (pw4), Momodou Sowe’s testimony, when compared with pw2, Ebou Sillah, and pw6, Kebba Drammeh, revealed contradictions and undermined the prosecution’s case.
The trial Judge went on to say PW4, Sowe, who presented himself as a Protocol Officer attached to the Office of the President, an institution expected to uphold the highest standards of official discipline, integrity, and confidentiality in public service, gave contradicting statements.
He added that the overall demeanor of Pw4, Sowe, rendered him an unreliable and unconvincing witness.
Justice Jaiteh further revealed that PW4, Sowe, admitted drafting a fake approval letter purporting to have originated from the Office of the President, an act that, by his own admission, constitutes a grave breach of official duty and integrity.
“He attempts to justify this criminal impropriety by claiming that he did so merely to ‘rid himself of the 1st Accused’s pressure,” Justice Jaiteh said.
Justice Jaiteh described the explanation of PW4, Sowe, as implausible and self-serving.
Justice Jaiteh said that pw8, Bakary Susso’s central allegation is that he paid the 1st accused, Sumareh, a sum of $800, $2,000, and $600 in relation to a promised diplomatic passport.
The Judge recollected PW8, Susso admitted requesting receipts, but none were issued, and added that the prosecution did not present any evidence of bank records, receipts, or vouchers to corroborate the said payment.
He stated that PW6, Kebba Drammeh, ought to have exemplified the highest standards of competence, caution, and diligence. Instead, he acted carelessly and without verification, thereby contributing to the circulation of a falsified approval letter.
Justice Jaiteh said that Pw6, Drammeh, conduct amounts to gross negligence of duty, and his testimony, being self-exculpatory and internally inconsistent, was unsafe to rely upon without strong independent corroboration.
“This Court finds the Prosecution’s evidence insufficiently cogent, persuasive, or unshakable to support a conviction,” he ruled.
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By: Nicholas Bass Banjul High Court, presided over by Justice Ebrima Jaiteh, on Tuesday acquitted and discharged Mansa Sumareh and…
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