Counsel Dibba Warns Sergeant Jagne Over Alleged False Testimony Before National Assembly Committee
By Fatou Sillah
The National Assembly Special Select Committee investigating the sale and disposal of assets belonging to former President Yahya Jammeh has formally cautioned Sergeant Adama Jagne of the Mechanical Services Agency (MSA) over allegedly providing misleading testimony.
The warning followed apparent inconsistencies in Sergeant Jagne’s account regarding his visit to the late Dawda Fadera at State House. Lead Counsel Lamin Dibba told the committee that providing false testimony could amount to contempt of the assembly, a matter that could lead to prosecution and imprisonment.
“Lying to this assembly is a great thing; it is like killing somebody. We don’t take it lightly; we take it with the utmost disrespect,” Counsel Dibba stressed.
In response, Sergeant Jagne apologized for the discrepancies in his statement, but Counsel Dibba rejected the apology, emphasizing that such matters are taken with the highest level of gravity.
Counsel Dibba further asked, “Can we confirm for the record that you intentionally misled this committee?”
Sergeant Jagne replied that he had no intention to mislead and said he was not prepared to disclose certain private matters concerning his interaction with the late Fadera.
The chairperson of the committee, Hon. Ceesay, addressed the witness directly, stating that his conflicting statements amounted to contempt of the committee.
“You are a security officer, and you know what that means. Even in security, you cannot sit here and mislead this committee. Tell us the truth,” he said.
The witness said his second statement is correct, which is that he went to State House to meet Dawda Fadera because Dawda Fadera called him the night before.
“You misled the committee. This committee will decide on that,” the chairperson asserted.
Counsel Lamin Dibba emphasized to the witness that the committee regards any attempt to mislead its proceedings with the utmost seriousness, noting that this was not the first instance in which the witness had provided contradictory statements. He issued a stern caution.
“Contempt is very serious. Once we cite you for contempt right now, you will vacate MSA, you will no longer be the custodian of MSA, you will hand back your uniform to the army, an investigation will begin about whether you indeed misled the committee or not, and you will be prosecuted. That is how serious it is,” Counsel Dibba warned. He urged the witness to be fully forthcoming and not to omit any details.
The witness maintained that it was indeed Dawda Fadera who had contacted him and that he had visited Fadera at his office the following day. He explained that Fadera had requested him to meet with a Lebanese national who was to deliver funds on his behalf due to his wife’s illness.
“I want to assign you to meet with one Lebanese guy. He said the person was supposed to give me some cash, but the money, to be honest, I don’t know how much it was because it was in an envelope,” the witness said.