The Secretary General, Head of Civil Service and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dawda Fadera is expected to appear 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.
This revelation was made by the Lead Counsel of the Commission, Lawyer Amie Bensouda who was putting supplementary questions to the Permanent Secretary of the Personal Management Office, PMO.
Fadera who was the former Permanent Secretary at the Personal Management Office until his appointment as Secretary General by the new government under President Barrow was reportedly served with summon to appear before the commission to provide information to various questions some of which his successor has failed to provide to the commission.
It was not disclosed when Mr. Fadera would appear before the commission but he is expected to appear anytime to answer to pertinent matters of concern to the commission.
Lead Counsel Amie Bensouda told Mr. Pateh Jah, Permanent Secretary of the Personal Management Office, PMO to watch his attitude because he was summoned to help the commission with information.
Pateh Jah was summoned to the commission to explained the scholarships awarded to students by the Office of the former, President Yahya Jammeh.
He disclosed to the commission the policies they have in respect to awarding scholarships. He spoke about the centralized scholarship board. He also spoke about the committee approved by the Cabinet that includes the PMO and the Ministries of Higher and Basic Secondary Education.
Jah said the scholarship committee was managed by Cabinet.
“I don’t know the selection criteria of student qualified for scholarships at the Office of the President,” Pateh Jah said.
He added: “I cannot answer questions with regard to the way scholarships were awarded to beneficiaries at the Office of the President because I was an outsider”.
Jah mentioned 18 students that benefitted from scholarship from the Office of the former President, saying that 3 students were admitted in the Gambia while the rest went overseas. He said he extracted the list from the files at the Personal Management Office. He told the commission to get the full records from the Office of the President.
Lawyer Olimatou Danso asked him to provide the government’s training policies to the commission.
The extracted list of students sponsored by the former president were admitted and marked as exhibits.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jah who told the commission that he served 16 years in the civil service was asked to provide training policy, general order and financial instructions in his next appearance before the commission.
