Warrant Officer Suso Testifies Vehicle Cannibalization Reduced Government Fleet to Scrap at MSA

By Fatou Sillah

Military Warrant Officer Lamin Suso, formerly stationed at the Mechanical Services Agency (MSA) in Kotu, has told the National Assembly’s Special Select Committee investigating the sale and disposal of former President Yahya Jammeh’s assets that vehicle cannibalization at the agency rendered several government vehicles useless.

Testifying before the committee, Suso said that the practice—led by Sergeant Adama Jange—resulted in some vehicles being reduced to scrap metal. He explained that he had been instructed by former State Guard Commander Colonel Turo Jawneh to take inventory of vehicles recovered by Jange and his team.

According to Suso, although Sergeant Jange was his junior in rank, he oversaw the day-to-day operations of MSA because, in the military, “appointments supersede rank.” He clarified that he had no mechanical training and was primarily at the agency to record and inventory recovered vehicles.

When asked whether vehicle cannibalization was a frequent occurrence at the facility, Suso confirmed that it happened “on some occasions.”

“Was this frequent or just on some occasions?” Counsel Dibba asked.

He said that each time he witnessed the dismantling of vehicles, he documented it, noting that the process often reduced vehicles to scrap.

During the session, Suso was confronted with a 2017 letter written by Chief Superintendent Nfamara Saidybah, the government vehicle controller, which accused him and Sergeant Jange of unauthorized interference with vehicles at the Kotu Central Workshop. The letter alleged that the two removed vehicles and engines without approval and transferred some to a private garage owned by one Alieu Gaye near Bundung Central Mosque.

The letter, addressed to the Janneh Commission, expressed serious concern about the management of the Kotu workshop. It stated that a government reassessment in 2017 found over 200 vehicles slated for auction, but many had been relocated, with some engines missing or installed in other vehicles.

Saidybah’s letter further alleged that Suso and Jange had taken control of the facility, claiming to be acting on behalf of President Adama Barrow, and that four tractors were unlawfully moved to a private garage in Bundung. It also claimed that the soldiers seized control from the previous occupant, Siaka Jammeh, without a formal handover or documentation.

Suso denied the allegations, insisting he never claimed to be acting under presidential authority. “Me telling them that we are mandated by the president—I have never uttered that word to anyone,” he testified.

He also denied forcefully occupying the MSA premises or removing Siaka Jammeh from the site.

Additionally, Suso told the committee that political aide Dou Sanno once collected a trailer and a tractor from the MSA. “The time he was collecting that tractor, he came with Chief Inspector Nyah Jobe from Saidybah’s office and said Dou is instructed to take a tractor and the time Dou want to take the tractor, I record it and I asked him to sign,” Suso said.

He concluded his testimony by stating that he personally did not purchase any items from the government vehicle auction process.