Justice Ebrima Jaiteh
By Landing Ceesay
Mr. Amadou Badjie, the Accountant of the Health Promotion and Development Organization (HePDO), provided testimony in court regarding the review process for consultants involved in the Malaria Campaign. He stated that the Board of Directors of HePDO reviewed the curriculum vitae of these consultants.
Appearing as the Sixth Prosecution Witness (PW6) in a corruption and economic crime trial, Mr. Badjie shed light on the involvement of three Ministry of Health officials. The accused individuals are Mr. Balla Kandeh, the Programme Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP); Mr. Omar Malleh Ceesay, the Executive Director of HePDO; and Mr. Muhammadu Lamin Jaiteh, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health. They face charges related to embezzlement and misappropriation of funds allocated for the Malaria Control Programme during their tenure.
In court, Mr. Badjie stated that he has been employed at HePDO for over 15 years. He identified two of the defendants as Mr. Balla Kandeh, the first accused, and Mr. Omar Ceesay, the second accused. Regarding Mr. Muhammadu Lamin Jaiteh, the third accused, Mr. Badjie mentioned encountering him only once at the Gambia Police Force Fraud Squad Office in Banjul.
“The meeting at the Fraud Squad was during the period when the police were doing their investigation. I recognized Bala Kandeh because he was a signatory to our account and Omar Ceesay is our Executive Director, of HePDO,” Mr. Badjie told the court.
“How come Bala Kandeh is a signatory to your account?” Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) A.M Yusuf asked Mr. Badjie.
“He (Balla Kandeh) was one time a member of the HePDO Board of Directors,” Mr. Badjie told the court.
When questioned about HePDO’s engagement in any Memorandum of Understanding with organizations, Mr. Badjie confirmed that there had been such agreements. He recalled that in late 2018, HePDO signed an MoU with the National Malaria Control Programme. This MoU aimed to enable HePDO to manage the payment process for consultants involved in a study pertaining to Malaria. The consultants listed included Abdou Sallah, Mamud Ceesay, Basirou Phillot (PW5), and Muhammed Sissoko (PW4).
“Do you know how these consultants were engaged by HePDO?” DPP Yusuf asked.
“Yes, the CVs for the consultants were brought to the procurement committee, which I am a member of. The CVs were reviewed by the committee members and then the four consultants, those I named, were approved,” Mr. Badjie said.
“Who brought the CVs of the consultants to the Procurement Committee?” DPP Yusuf asked again.
“The CVs were brought to the procurement committee by Omar Ceesay who informed us that he got them from Lamin Jarjue. When Mr Omar Ceesay brought the CVs, we reviewed them as a committee and based on the qualifications on the CVs we agreed to engage them. The contracts were signed between HePDO and the consultants,” Mr. Badjie said.
Mr. Badjie said he has the contract documents of all four consultants.
“Can you recall whether the contracts between HePDO and the consultants were signed by anybody?” DPP Yusuf asked.
“Yes, the contracts were signed by Omar Ceesay who is the Executive Director and the various consultants did sign,” Mr. Badjie told the court.
Mr. Badjie said the contracts were not signed in his presence, but on the contract documents, he saw signatures against the names of the consultants.
“Who is Lamin Jarju?” DPP Yusuf asked.
“Lamin Jarju was one time Deputy Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme, but I was made to understand that he is late now,” Mr. Badjie told the court.
The case was then adjourned to next week for a continuation of PW6’s evidence-in-chief.