Former Secretary General and Minister for Presidential Affairs Momodou Sabally’s long detention without bail and charged with three counts of economic crime and abuse of office may have more to do with his alleged actions immediately after his dismissal than his alleged crimes. Sources close to the State House reported that Sabally allegedly tore his dismissal letter in front of the Vice President Isatou Njie Saidy, rhetorically asking what he had done. He walked away in rage and was immediately confronted by guards and escorted to his office. The Vice President asked Sabally to apologize but he refused. He was immediately escorted out of the premises and was forced to walk to the NIA.
The source reported that Sabally was very defiant and was overtaken by his anger suspecting what may happen to him in the coming days. His reactions after his dismissal may have been the “arrogant” behavior Jammeh was referencing when he swears Sabally’s replacement.
The source also added that Jammeh was unhappy with Sabally’s statement orchestrating the announcement of half a million D500,000 ransom for Jammeh’s cousin Pa Bojang who had jumped bail and escaped into neighboring Casamance. Pa Bojang is now residing in Raleigh North Carolina in the United States. After the announcement of Sabally’s redeployment to the ministry of higher education, he reportedly refused to show up at the ministry.
State prosecutors slammed him with one count of economic crime and two counts of abuse of office. All relating to a “Youth Career Development Program organised by one Mariama Sillah in May 2014”. The young Sabally is accused of causing economic loss to Social Security and Housing Finance Cooperation (SSHFC) in the amount of over D400,000 by influencing SSHFC to fund the alleged program. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. The judge ordered him remanded with the NIA until his next appearance October 14th, 2014. Sabally who represented himself in court without a lawyer told the court: “I have been detained for five weeks during which I cooperated with the investigators’ I have a wife and children. I served as an example to the younger ones of this country. I joined the services of The Gambia and ignored foreign appointments such as the IMF and World Bank and decided to serve my country. With this background, I did not see any reason why the prosecution should doubt my integrity. I therefore humbly disagree with the prosecution and urged the court to grant me bail.” His emotional plea was rejected by the judge especially with recent high profile cases who escaped state custody.
Political pundits observed that Sabally’s outrage is a sign of what many Gambians have experienced under the Jammeh regime. Citizens face lots of humiliation and dismissal from their jobs but are afraid to openly defy Jammeh’s orders in fear of the consequences. One pundit added that sooner rather than later “someone will take their anger on the President” because a lot of people have had enough. What will happen to Sabally is anybody’s guess but history records that once you fall out with Jammeh you are likely to not only serve jail time but probably continue to face more charges to keep you behind bars. Sabally’s case continue to teach Gambians lessons about this government but it doesn’t seem to stick for now as more people take up appointments from the government that has no respect for their services.