By Fatou Sillah
The National Assembly on Monday approved a motion calling for an investigation into Abubacarr M. Tambedou, the former attorney general and minister of justice, over alleged violations of the Public Finance Act, moving away from an earlier recommendation for criminal proceedings.
The motion, introduced by the Majority Leader and member for Kantora, Billy G. Tunkara, would have the executive branch conduct the inquiry under the supervision of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
“The public finance act will now tell us whether he did financial crimes or not, simple,” Mr. Tunkara said during the debate.
He said the revised proposal was intended to establish whether there had been financial misconduct before any criminal case could be pursued.
“We are now proposing that the committee recommend the executive to conduct an investigation under the supervision of the director of public prosecution to institute an investigation against the former attorney general and minister for justice, Ba Tambadou, on the violation of the public finance act, among other things,” he said.
The decision follows the special select committee’s earlier recommendation that the executive, through the police and under the supervision of the director of public prosecutions, initiate criminal proceedings against Mr. Tambedou in connection with the sale and disposal of assets linked to former President Yahya Jammeh.
Those allegations include systematic violations of the Public Finance Act of 2014, abuse of office, and economic crimes.
After the debate, lawmakers voted in favor of the motion, backing an executive-led investigation to determine whether financial crimes had been committed before any criminal proceedings are pursued.
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