Former Managing Director of the Gambia National Petroleum Corporations GNPC, Momodou OS Badjie has said that the corporation spent over D600,000 to purchased 11 air tickets for the late Jamaican Musician Frankie Paul Dance Band.
Badjie made these revelations before the commission of inquiry set up to look into the financial activities of the former President Yahya Jammeh and his close associates at the Djembe Beach Hotel, Kololi.
According to Mr. Badjie, the said directive came from the Office of the former president which he said was paid without delay.
The former GNPC Managing Director told the commission that they are a public enterprise owned by the government before changing into a corporations as it was a registered company.
Former Managing Director Badjie admitted to the commission receiving directives from the former President Yahya Jammeh. He revealed several requests from the Office of the President to provide $1 Million and $45, 300 to the President Empowerment for Girls Education Project PEGEP in 2006 respectively. He also mentioned a $20, 000 to the Office of the President plus $303, 000 to Calabasas, California, saying he does not know the purpose.
Badjie further revealed another sum of D10 Million to Dr. Njogu L. Bah, former Secretary General for the rehabilitation of the prisons in 2012.
“I don’t know whether the money was spent on the prisons rehabilitation,” Former MD Badjie said.
Badjie said he could not recall who the Director of Prisons was at that time.
He made mentioned of another directive from the Office of the President to provide a sum of $500, 000 handed over to Momodou Sabally, former Secretary General and Nuha Touray, former Secretary to Cabinet. He said the duo have signed for the money. He added that the documents could be traced at the office.
“We asked the Office of the President to allow us monies recovered from the companies dealing with oil as grants,” Badjie disclosed.
He was questioned about the said recoveries from companies which he explained as rentals, prospective licenses, sales of data and bonuses among others.
“The President gave directives to hand over all the accounts of funds from 2013,” he asserted.
Badjie disclosed to the commission names of banks they had accounts at including Guaranty Trust Bank, Trust Bank and Skye Bank among others, saying a sum of $7.3 Million was the total balance handed over to the Office of the President in 2016. The signatories to the dollars accounts were changed to the former President Jammeh and Secretary Generals at different times, he added. He told the commission that from that time they no longer had control over the the revenues coming to the said accounts.
“The Petroleum House was built by our resources with nine fuel stations in the country,” Badjie told the commission.
The financial activities of GNPC as transfers, withdrawals, prison rehabilitations and other relating documents were admitted and marked as exhibits.
The next witness was Mr. Ousman Jobarteh, the Deputy Managing Director of the Gambia Ports Authority. He confirmed the former president Yahya Jammeh’s financial activities with the country’s port authority. He mentioned some outstanding money owing to them.
Jobarteh spoke about the ports spending on the Kanilai Cultural Arena at the Kanilai Village. He also mentioned about an outstanding balance of D6.9 Million.
Meanwhile, the deputy Managing Director of the Port Authority was ordered to reappear before the commission Wednesday morning, August 30.
