Gambiaj.com – BANJUL, The Gambia) – Former Deputy Commissioner of the Janneh Commission, Ms. Abiosseh George, has revealed that the Office of the President directly interfered in the work of the Commission tasked with investigating the assets of former President Yahya Jammeh.
Testifying before the National Assembly’s Special Select Committee on Wednesday, Ms. George recounted how the government halted the sale of tractors under the Commission’s management after a phone call from the Office of the President during a cabinet meeting.
She said the Commission received a call instructing them to suspend the tractor sales to allow the government to submit a proposal for their redistribution to farmers for subsistence use.
While describing the proposal as “noble,” Ms. George acknowledged that it amounted to government interference, noting that such a proposal “could have been raised way before the sales commenced.”
“We were concerned about how the public would perceive it—starting something and then stopping it midway. It did not go down well with some of us,” she said, stressing that the Commission regarded itself as fully independent.
Ms. George explained that despite the government’s commitment to submit a redistribution plan, no proposal was ever received. The Commission was later compelled to resume the sales, she added, as concerns grew that the tractors and other assets were being vandalized or stripped of parts.
The incident, according to her, marked the beginning of a tense relationship between the Commission’s secretariat and the Office of the President.
It also coincided with the deterioration of relations between the Commission’s first secretary, Alhagie Kurang, and its lead counsel—an internal conflict that eventually led to Kurang’s dismissal after he refused to apologize to the presidency.
Ms. George further testified that the commissioners were summoned to the Attorney General’s Chambers, where they were informed of the decision to relieve Kurang of his duties—a move she described as “a shame,” given the collective effort that had defined the Commission’s early work.
Her testimony adds to mounting evidence suggesting that the independence of the Janneh Commission was undermined by political interference, particularly from the executive branch, despite repeated public assurances of its autonomy.
