Gambiaj.com – (Banjul, the Gambia)- Members of the National Assembly’s Select Committee probing the sale of former President Yahya Jammeh’s assets on Tuesday pressed Ms. Ramatoulie Sarr, former Acting Secretary of the Janneh Commission, over how dozens of tractors under the Commission’s custody were tampered with, moved without authorization, and eventually sold off as scrap.

Sarr, who reappeared before the committee after being recalled, struggled under questioning as she admitted that tractors without the Commission’s authority, and that no disciplinary action was ever taken against those involved.

“The Commission said we wanted it in place B, but they found it in place C,” Cansel Dibba charged, pointing out that the movement happened without oversight. Sarr conceded she had no knowledge of who ordered the transfer, nor whether the Commission investigated the irregularities.

Counsel Dibba expressed frustration after Sarr confirmed that many of the tractors were tampered with while in the Commission’s custody, eventually being sold off as “scrap” instead of preserving their value. “Do you see how ironic it is that what the Commission set out to do with respect to preservation of the tractors was defeated? Instead of reserving their value, you depreciated their value,” one he remarked.

Pressed further, Sarr attempted to justify the move, suggesting “maybe they didn’t want to lose everything, so they decided to just sell it out before they lose everything.” Her response drew criticism from committee members, who described the Commission’s handling of the assets as “strange” and “sheer incompetence.”

The witness was repeatedly faulted for distancing herself from the auctions, insisting she was not on the ground during sales but only supervised the teams. Counsel rejected this defense, stressing that as head of the secretariat she remained responsible for the process and for ensuring accountability from her subordinates.

Committee members concluded that no mechanisms were in place to properly verify buyers, no serious follow-up was done to investigate missing parts, and the Commission failed to act even after reports confirmed tampering.