By Fatou Sillah
Hamat N.K. Bah, the Minister of Local Government, Lands and Religious Affairs and former Minister of Tourism, appeared Tuesday before the National Assembly’s Special Select Committee investigating the sale and disposal of assets belonging to former President Yahya Jammeh.
Bah told lawmakers that after the Janneh Commission submitted its findings, the Cabinet undertook a full review to determine which recommendations to adopt, which assets should remain state property, and which could be sold.
“When the Janneh commission completed and submitted their report, it was subjected to cabinet scrutiny to produce the white paper. To look at the recommendations of the commission and what was to be accepted and what was not to be accepted, and the procedures to take to implement the accepted recommendations,” Bah said.
He explained that the Cabinet subsequently recommended that a number of assets identified as belonging to the former president be examined further. To do so, a ministerial task force was established to assess the assets and advise the Cabinet on the appropriate course of action.
A technical committee was then formed, composed of permanent secretaries and other senior officials. According to Bah, these officials were responsible for guiding the task force through the report and determining how best to implement its recommendations.
Following their assessments, the committees concluded that some assets should be retained as government property for official use, while others should be valued for potential sale. Once the sales were completed, Bah said, a report was compiled and submitted to the cabinet.
He emphasized that all sales were conducted through an open tender process and that regular updates were provided to the Cabinet.
Bah also clarified that while the committees handled houses, shares, and other fixed assets, they were not responsible for the sale of vehicles or cattle. Their role, he stressed, was strictly advisory.