By Landing Ceesay
The High Court of the Gambia is hearing the case of three Ministry of Health officials who are accused of corruption involving Global Fund money. The Third Prosecution Witness, Corporal Sheriff S. Corr, a member of the Fraud Squad of the Gambia Police Force, testified that they found over D4.7 million in the account of Health Promotion and Development Organization (HePDO), a sub-sub recipient of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP).
The accused persons are Mr. Balla Kandeh, the Programme Manager of NMCP, Mr. Omar Malleh Ceesay, the Executive Director of HePDO, and Mr. Muhammadu Lamin Jaiteh, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health.
Corporal Corr said that they were investigating the hiring of four consultants by HePDO for the implementation of Global Fund projects. The consultants were Muhammed Sissoho, Basiru Phillott, Abou Sallah, and Mamout Ceesay.
Corporal Corr corrected an earlier error in his testimony regarding the total grant from the Global Fund to the Ministry of Health, clarifying that it was $13 million plus, not $13,000. He further detailed the process of obtaining statements from the accused individuals and recovering various documents, including correspondence with the Global Fund and Ministry of Finance.
“My lord, before I proceed, I want to make some clarification on my earlier testimonies. I talked about the grant total from the global fund to the Ministry of Health, I mentioned that it was $13, 000, which was a slip of my tongue, the grant total was $13 million plus,” Corporal Corr told the court.
Corporal Corr testified in court that during their investigation, Balla Kandeh, Omar Malleh Ceesay, and Muhammadu Lamin Jaiteh were summoned for questioning, and statements were obtained from them.
Additionally, Corporal Corr informed the court that documents recovered from the accused individuals included correspondence between Global Fund and the Ministry of Health, as well as correspondence between the Ministry of Finance and Global Fund.
Moreover, Corporal Corr mentioned that other documents retrieved from Omar Malleh Ceesay, the second accused, consisted of retirement documents detailing the expenditure of the $11 million allocated for the studies conducted by the four consultants hired by HePDO.
“Furthermore, during the course of the investigation, we interacted with two of the consultants, Muhammed Sissoho, and Basiru Phillott. For Mamut Ceesay, we were told that he passed away during the course of the investigation. And for Abou Sallah, we could not trace him during the course of the investigation,” Corporal Corr told the court.
Corporal Corr testified that they became acquainted with the consultants as they investigated and found that all contract documents, CVs, and retirement documents bore the names of these consultants as the individuals responsible for conducting the studies.
Additionally, the Police Investigator informed the court that during their interaction with the consultants, it was revealed that they had been engaged by Mr. Lamin Jarju, the Deputy Program Manager at the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP).
“They (Consultants) also provided us with a consultancy per diems report on the retirement documents. It was paid to them for conducting the said studies. So, responding to that, they said they have no idea of those amounts on the retirement documents. So at this point, we went on for a nationwide fact-finding mission in all the regions to confirm whether some of the names we have in the retirement documents of people who took part in the studies.
“So in all these regions we went to, we were able to meet some of them who confirmed to have taken part in the said studies and confirmed to have received the amount against their names. During interaction with the consultants, they told us that they were brought by Mr. Jarju who would bring them cheques, to go and cash in the bank and hand them over to him. So according to them, Lamin Jarju will give them a token of money after cashing and giving him this money,” Corporal Corr told the court.
Corporal Corr mentioned that the Consultants were asked if they were acquainted with the accused individuals, to which they responded that they were not familiar with any of them.
Corporal Corr also stated that statements were gathered from the two consultants and the participants involved at the regional level in the studies.
“So when we reviewed the retirement documents, we found out that the amount of D6 million and above was spent in conducting of these studies by Mr. Lamin Jarju in payment of drivers, purchase of fuel, and payment of all the participants in all the regions who took part in the studies. So on these retirement documents, the amount indicated to have been paid to all these four consultants, Muhammed Sissoho, Basiru Phillott, Abou Sallah, and Mamout Ceesay two of these consultants we interacted with denied receiving these monies.
“So, cumulatively all of these amounts when calculated were D4 million and above together with the 3% obtained by HePDO which is equivalent to D266, 000 as administrative upkeep. The amount giving to the consultants also is equivalent to D315, 000 in total. So putting all these together, was equivalent to four million, seven hundred and forty-nine thousand plus which was confirmed not to have been spent on the studies. The four million was recovered from HePDO and paid to the Central Bank Treasury Account,” Corporal Corr told the court.
Corporal Corr stated that following thorough investigations, a report was compiled. Nonetheless, he informed the court that prior to the report’s compilation, he distinctly remembered assisting the second accused individual (Omar Malleh Ceesay) in documenting his cautionary statement, which Ceesay willingly composed himself.
The proceedings were subsequently adjourned until February 20, 2024, for further continuation.
Background of the Case
Mr. Balla Kandeh (the 1st accused), Mr. Omar Malleh Ceesay (the 2nd accused), and Mr. Muhammadou Lamin Jaiteh (the 3rd accused) are facing a total of 19 charges against them.
The charges brought forth by the State encompass official corruption, violating Section 86(a) of the Criminal Code; failure to fulfil statutory duties under Section 115 of the Criminal Code; conspiracy to commit a felony under Section 368 of the Criminal Code; and two counts of economic crimes as specified in Section 5(a) of the Economic Crimes (Specified Offences) Act, cap 13:07, punishable under Section 6(1) of the Economic Crimes (Specified Offences) Act.
Furthermore, the accused are also facing eight counts of forgery, as stipulated in Section 318 of the Criminal Code, and five counts of theft, in violation of Section 252 of the Criminal Code.
These individuals are alleged to have embezzled and stolen a substantial sum of D24,313,332.26 (Twenty-Four Million, Three Hundred and Thirteen Thousand, Three Hundred and Thirty-Two Dalasis Twenty-Six Bututs) during their tenure at the Ministry of Health. Additionally, they are accused of stealing USD 59,256.00, equivalent to D3,901,829.83 (three million, nine hundred and one thousand, eight hundred and twenty-nine dalasis, and eighty-three bututs) while serving at the Ministry of Health.