By Adama Makasuba
The TRRC on Monday resumed its public hearings with a police officer becoming the first Gambian to testify on former President Yahya Jammeh’s so-called 2009 witch-hunt.
In 2009, former President Jammeh shocked the world by hiring a band of witch doctors to raid communities for witches – a six-man group of witch-doctors who were always accompanied by soldiers armed with AK47 rifles. The exercise targeted poor, elderly farmers who were often pressurized to confess to murders by sorcery. The witch-hunt was also conducted in some government offices in Banjul.
The TRRC will dedicate its 10th session to an event which caused the death of scores while others who were targeted are still reeling from the beating and other forms of torture.
Abdou Colley, a 61-year-old policeman on Monday appeared before the TRRC detailing how former President Yahya Jammeh’s band of witch doctors raided offices in their search for witches.
The so-called witch doctors were dressed in red costume and always carried mirrors, horns and cow tails as they forced those they believe to be witches drink concoctions.
“In the morning between 10 and 11am some people came there and they called themselves marabouts, they wore a red attires, having horns, and cow tails, if you are not brave you will ran away,” Mr. Kolley, a police chief disciplinary officer, told TRRC.
He added: “Any office we go to, they have mirrors and horns. They came with military officers in both military uniforms and in mufti. They will ask you to stand up and they would search. If they don’t see anything they would leave but if they see anything they would ask you to go with them. They came to my office and I told them to search. They did and saw nothing.”
