Reports reaching Gainako news desk has it that Transport Union Secretary Mr. Sheriff Dibba 49 has allegedly died in the hands of State Security in the Gambia. Mr. Dibba was the secretary of the recently banned Gambia National Transport Control Association who was arrested along with several members of the transport association and was held in detention without charges for several weeks. He was detained at the notorious Mile II Central prison – one of the worst prisons in Africa.
Mr. Dibba and several executive members of the banned transport union were accused of economic crimes and have been detained by the state for several weeks pending trial. He was denied bail and remanded at Mile II. The mysterious circumstances surrounding the sudden death of Secretary Dibba are still unknown. However, a source close to the state security reported that due to harsh prison conditions, Mr. Dibba felt ill suddenly and died in state custody. His body was immediately transported to Bakau Health Center where the authorities reported his death and notified his family. The reliable source confirmed that Mr, Dibba did indeed die in State custody before being transported to the health center.
Mr. Dibba early in the year testified against the President of the transport union which was engulfed in economic scandal. The transport union President Mr. Ousman Drammeh was accused of giving false information to the office of the Secretary General and head of the Civil service; a charge that has become too familiar by the state which mostly relates to citizens either complaining or writing to the state about issues that they are concern about. The state uses this pretext to go after alleged whistle blowers or workers who have complains against other workers or the State. Mr. Drammeh’s case was being presided over by Magistrate Fatou Darboe of the Banjul Magistrate court. The case took months before the transport union was banned and its executive members arrested by the State.
It was still not clear why the private transport union was banned and its members arrested and detained without bail. As usual the Gambian state seems to go after organizations they don’t seems to have control over to either neutralize them or ban them completely only for a similar organization to surface somewhere. A classic example of such a ban is the former Gambia Public Tranport Corporation (GPTC) which was one of the most successful and vital corporations during the first republic. President Jammeh orchestrated the banning of the public transportation through an act of parliament. This corporation was later replaced by Gambia Transport Services Corporation which now has over 50 man power buses running across the country using former GPTC depots across the country. The campany is allegedly owned by President Jammeh and his business partners. One Mr. Seedy Kinteh is the executive Director of that new corporation.
In the meantime, the family of Mr. Sheriff Dibba are reportedly devastated on the news of his sudden death. He is survived by a wife and several kids. A concern family member expressed sadness on the passing of his/her relative saying “they must have done something to him”. He was reportedly healthy before going to prison. Gambia’s prison conditions have come across international scrutiny including the United Nations whose representative was denied access some sensitive parts of the prison sometimes last year.
Whatever may have happened to Mr. Sheriff Dibba is surrounded by suspicion and since he was last seen in the hands of state custody, the state has the responsibility to fully investigate the circumstances surrounding his sudden death. Regardless of whether he died at the Mile II prisons or at Bakau Health Center, the family of Mr. Dibba deserves to know fully what has happened to their love one.