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Momodou
Denmark
11712 Posts |
 Posted - 26 May 2010 : 15:57:37
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"I Had Every Opportunity To Flee"Says Ex- CDS Lang Tombong Tamba
"I had every opportunity to flee the country if I had committed any dubious act," Lang Tombong Tamba told the court as he appeared on Monday 24th May 2010 before Justice Emmanuel Amadi of The High Court in Banjul.
He said that the mini stadium where he went to watch a football match is far from his house, meaning that he would have escaped the armed men and plain cloth officers who went to arrest him at his residence in Kololi.
He explained to the court that it all started on the 20th November 2010 while at the Serre Kunda East mini stadium at about 6pm he received a call from his second wife that armed soldiers with plain cloth personnel were looking for him and that they were sent by the former Inspector General of police Ensa Badjie to arrest him.
As I terminated the call from my second wife, I received another call from my first wife that two pickup vehicles with armed soldiers and plain cloth personnel were at my residence in Bijilo and that they were sent by ex-IGP Badjie to come and arrest me. I told her over the phone that I was coming and she sounded as worried as my second wife. She told me that the way I saw this people you will be arrested if you come back," he said.
CDS Tamba added that he then told her that he has done nothing wrong in this country that would warrant him to run away and that his conscience was clear especially at that time he was appointed as The Gambia’s ambassador to the Republic of China on Taiwan.
"I told her that I was coming and she supported my that decision. I then called back my second wife who lives at Kololi that I was coming to the house and she too sounded worried and I said to her that I did nothing wrong in this country, that I have served the country to the best of my ability as the CDS then and so I had no cause to flee and that my conscience was clear, a decision she supported," Tombong told the court.
Lang explained that he then moved out from the stadium to pick his vehicle but could not do so as it was blocked by other vehicles. He explained that he then left his car keys with a friend whom he asked to bring the vehicle later to his house.
"I hired a taxi and went back to my residence in Bijilo for the single reason that I knew I have served my country to the best of my ability and I knew that I did not do anything dubious and that my conscience was clear and I had demonstrated total loyalty to the president and commander in - chief of The Gambia Armed Forces and the government when I was the CDS and even after my removal. I knew that if I had been up to any dubious act, I would not have returned home," he said.
Continuing, he said that after arriving at his house, he found two plain cloth security men who informed him that they were there to arrest him and they would wait for the arrival of their superiors.
"I then went into my room and sat with my family waiting for the arrival of the rest of the team. Some minutes later, the team arrived and I was arrested and taken away to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) headquarters in Banjul," he said.
Tamba further stated that at the NIA, he was led to the waiting room of the director general NIA where he met the (DG) sitting with the former Inspector General of police Ensa Badjie. He added that he was offered a seat and was there with them for two hours without being told any thing.
"It was until around 2 am when I was led to a conference room at the NIA to face a panel. I was told by the panel that I was involved in a coup plot. I told them that this was news to me as it was the first time I heard of such allegations. I told them that it is totally untrue and further put it to them that I was never a disgruntled officer," he told the court.
added, "when the panel knew I was getting bitter about the allegation, the then IGP of police Ensa Badjie said to me that this was information they received and they were investigating the matter. They said they were informed of my involvement in the alleged plot by one Ebrima Bojang. He then told me before the panel that when Ebrima Bojang was arrested in Farafenni he mentioned (he) IGP Badjie’s name as one of those who sent him to Farafenni for the purpose of a coup plot against the president.
Former CDS Tamba further said that ex-IGP Badjie told him at the panel that the moment he knew that Ebrima Bojang mentioned his name in the alleged coup he beat Ebrima seriously until he (Badjie) fractured his thumb.
According to the first accused, he also told Ensa Badjie that he wished he were still the CDS so that he would also beat Ebrima Bojang for mentioning other names and forgetting his name.
"The acting CDS, then Yankuba Drammeh, told me at the panel that as he was preparing to go for Friday prayers, he was arrested and taken to the NIA because his name was mentioned by Ebrima Bojang as one of those who sent him to Farafenni for the purpose of a coup plot and that he could not still go back to his house.
As he concluded his statement, the current DG of NIA Numo Kujabi told me at the panel that they were investigating the matter and should therefore be patience as he himself was among those named by Ebrima Bojang in the alleged coup plot.
Ex-Lt.General Tamba added that he saw Ebrima Bojang at their confrontation at the NIA. I told the panel that I knew him as Ebrima Sanyang and this was way back in 2008.
He explained that he met Ebrima Bojang at his house in Kololi as he closed from office. "I saw a young man waiting outside my compound under a mango tree. Later in the evening after having my lunch, I got my car outside and was about to go out when a soldier on guard duty told me that the young man under the mango tree wanted to see me. I asked the soldier who he was and he told me that he was called Ebrima Sanyang who was claiming that I was his uncle," he said.
He further explained that he asked the soldier to let him (Ebrima Sanyang) in and lowered his car window and asked the boy his name.
"He said he was Ebrima Sanyang, a son to my sister in Bwiam called Satou Tamba. I asked him of his mission and he said he needed my help to pay his tuition fees at Quantum training centre and the amount was one thousand five hundred dalasis (D1, 500.00) Based on humanitarian grounds and certainly knowing that my sister had a son called Ebrima Sanyang, I asked him to come the next day to collect the money which he did," said ex-CDS Tamba.
He admitted that his sister lives in Bwiam but does not her son and has never met him before. He said this is because he has not been visiting his sister in Bwiam as it is part of the Jola tradition that when your sister is married somewhere, you don’t have to be visiting her frequently.
During the early part of his Monday defense, the first accused person told the court that between January 2009 and September 2009, he received telephone calls from the 4th, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th accused persons sympathizing with him following the death of his brother in law, his daughter, his mother in law and his father all in 2009 but at different times.
He said during the same period, these people called him and congratulated him as the first vice president of The Gambia Football Association(GFA) for the tremendous achievement of the under 17 national team as champions of Africa in 2009 as well the great performance of the senior national team.
Lang Tombong added that they also called to congratulate him on his election as the president of The Gambia National Olympic Committee as well as the achievements of The Gambia Armed Forces football team as league champions in the GFA first division league.
On his sacking
The former CDS explained that he received his marching orders on the 9th October 2009 just coming from Denmark where he attended the International Olympic Committee congress and was asked to hand over immediately to the then deputy CDS Yankuba Drammeh.After reading the letter, he said he was led to his office by the former IGP Ensa Badjie, the present DG of NIA Numo Kujabi and Harry Sambou the present Permanent Secretary Ministry of Defense (MoD).
Tamba further said that it took sometime before he was finally de-kitted. He said his former military assistant Lt.Colonel Alhagie Sanneh one day called to inform him that the orderly to the CDS has parked all the items in his former office and is dropping the cartons in his house so that he could take what belonged to him and returned what belonged to the office. "I could not open the boxes because this was the day I was arrested just from the football match," he said.
He also stated that after his sacking he was privileged to wine and dine with the president of the Republic prior to his arrest.
Trial continues.
Source: Dailynews
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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dembis
Sweden
71 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2010 : 00:07:10
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| Cowards die 100 times before theirr death. Lang is a big traitor and now in mile2 prison feeling the same like his former colleagues. If i was him i will shut my mouth before people like me to laugh at him. I hope he feel the same way like my cousin cpt ebou lowe and others. |
dembis |
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Momodou
Denmark
11712 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2010 : 16:55:11
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My loyalty to the president will never change, Lang Tombong Tamba tells court
By Sainey M.K. Marenah
Friday, May 28, 2010
 "My loyalty to the President will never change until I am in my grave. I leave everything in the hands of God, who knows what is wrong and right."
These were the words of Lt. General Lang Tombong Tamba on Thursday when he continued his testimony at the High Court in Banjul in the ongoing treason trial involving him and seven others.
Lang Tombong Tamba told the court that, on another day, Ebrima Sanyang (Ebrima Marreh) came to his residence in Kololi with the intention of seeing him when he did not close from work, and that his guards on duty kept Ebrima Sanyany waiting outside the compound.
"When my wife closed from work, she met Ebrima at the gate and she told the guards to drive him away. He testified that, on another day, Ebrima went to a mini-market run by his wife, and claimed to the staff there that he (Lang) was his uncle.
"During this period, Ebrima stole a cheque belonging to my wife amounting to D28, 000," he further revealed. Lang Tombong Tamba informed the court that Ebrima was able to cash the cheque at Access Bank along Kairaba Avenue. He added that Ebrima was apprehended at Kembujeh by his former driver, Corporal Beyai, and brought to his Bijilo residence, and then taken to the Fajara Barracks in Bakau for further investigation by the personnel of the National Guards at the Fajara Barracks.
"After interrogation, it was confirmed that Ebrima stole a cheque, and I was informed by the Chief of the National Guard staff that Ebrima had accepted stealing a cheque amounting to about D28, 000, belonging to my wife's mini-market," Lang Tombong told the court.
"I cannot remember how long Ebrima was at the Fajara Barracks, but he was kept at the charge office at the Fajara Barracks," he stated.
"From that day, I did not see Ebrima again until the day of my arrest at the NIA headquarters, when I was confronted with him before the panel," Tamba adduced.
"I have not heard from Ebrima again by any means," he testified. "I have 24-hours guard duty provided by soldiers at both residences, and there were four soldiers in each of the residences.
"These soldiers were responsible for my personal protection and that of my family as well. Anybody who comes to see me is first announced to me, and following my approval to see the visitor he/she is escorted into my sitting room by the soldiers," he added.
At the end of the visit, he added, the soldiers would escort the visitor out of his compound. "It was not possible that a visitor will leave my residence without being seen off," he told the court.
"Ebrima had never visited my house in Bijilo, except the day he was arrested by Corporal Beyai and he brought him to my Bijilo residence. Before being referred to Fajara Barracks, Ebrima did not enter in my house," he added.
Lang Tombong Tamba adduced that all the description given by Ebrima about houses was not true. "I am not related to Ebrima at all," Tamba told the court.
"I had never sent Ebrima to Thies in Senegal. I did not receive any call from Thies. I had never called Ebrima at all, as I did not even know his number. I make calls outside The Gambia to many countries," he revealed.
"I made telephone calls to Guinea-Bissau in 2009; I made calls to one Mr. Jarju, an employee at the Gambia High Commission in Guinea-Bissau," he stated.
He said this was during the time of the former Chief of Defence Staff of Guinea-Bissau, when he was murdered and, as well when the former President of Guinea-Bissau was killed.
"I made and received many calls to this Mr. Jarju in order to update on the situation in Guinea-Bissau to the President and Commander-in-Chief of GAF," Lang Tombong Tamba told a crowded courtroom.
"I also made calls to Guinea-Bissau to the following people, my brother Mr. Sadibou Tamba, my nephew Mr. Salimina Sanyang and my sister Mrs. Olimatou Tamba-Sanyang in the year 2009.
On 23rd November 2009, "I was escorted by members of the investigation in the alleged coup plot to conduct a search on my two premises at Bijilo and Kololi."
"On arrival at my residence in Kololi, the team found two pairs of camouflage uniforms, some green in-shirt, camouflage in-shirt, one pair of Major rank, one pair of Lt. Col rank, one SB hunting cartridge were found in a suitcase that was packed in one of the rooms.
"I cannot remember the other items, as an inventory was not taken at the time they were found in my residence. These items were supplied to me when I was the Commander of State Guard as far back as 2004.
"When I took over as CDS of GAF and, with the approval of the President and Commander-in-Chief of GAF, distinctive uniforms were designed for the Gambia National Army and Gambia National Guard. And, as a result, I did not need those uniforms as they were not part of the new address code of GAF. I forgot them in the suitcase, where they were packed until surprisingly, on the day of this search, I came across them," the ex-armed forces chief informed the court.
"The team then proceeded to my Bijilo residence to conduct another search, and the team found a sealed carton box.
"I told the team that I did not know the contents of the cartoon. That I was told by my former military assistant, Lt. Colonel Alagie Sanneh, that he was dropping a carton at my residence in Bijilo; that it contains items from the office, and that I should take what belongs to me and return what belongs to the army," he said.
He added that "I did not see the cartoon, when it was brought, and thereby not knowing the contents. The search team requested to open the cartoon, and I accepted and inside the carton we discovered some files and various military books which belong to the Armed Forces. We also found in the same carton my personal belongings, and the searching teams took what belongs to the army, and left what belongs to me in my house."
He said the search team did not find anything at his Bijilo residence, except the carton.
Asked by the defence counsel to look at exhibit P2 and P2A, and explain to the court. In reply, Lang Tombong said these exhibits "were not found in my possession or custody at my Bijilo residence."
He also denied what PW2 Rui Jabbi Kassama said that he had paid him 30,000 Euros to train mercenaries as "lies", adding further that "I have never seen Rui Jabbi Kassama in my life; the only time I was confronted with him was during my arrest at the NIA headquarters.
"I had never promised to buy a compound for Rui in The Gambia and Guinea Bissau; I never knew Rui," Lang added.
The former CDS also denied the allegations made by PW2 (Rui). He also told the court that he did not know Kukoi Samba Sanyang?s numbers, and that "my telephone printouts show that I did not call Kukoi."
"The first time I had of 'Black Friday' was in this court," he further stated. Lang Tombong Tamba also denied the allegation of PW2 (Rui) about the reasons for the coup plot, and that he was not aware of strangers being brought to The Gambia to monitor Gambians.
"From the 10th February 2010, I the 1st, 2nd with the 5th accused persons, were taken away from our detention centre at Mile 2 to the office of the DPP, at the Ministry of Justice. While at the office of the secretary of the DPP, I was the first to be led to the DPP's office. The DPP showed me a file, and said that I was being accused of attempting to overthrow the democratically-elected government of The Gambia with others.
"The DPP said to me I and others brought a container of arms and ammunition to Guinea Bissau for the purpose of the coup, and that he (DPP) had with him all the evidence with regards to the coup plot."
The DPP further told me that "the 7th accused had been assigned to clear the container of arms at Guinea Bissau."
At the office of the DPP, Lang Tombong, continued, "the DPP produced an NIA blank witness statement form. He said to me that if I acceptmy involvement in the alleged coup plot, I (Lang) can write my statement. Then he (DPP) would release me immediately to return to my house, without returning to Mile 2, where I was detained."
"I told the DPP that I have ever been loyal to the President and Commander-in-Chief of GAF. I will never involve myself in any coup against the President," I further told the DPP, and told him to ask any member of the military.
I further told the DPP that the President has started to release others, that the 2nd, 7th and the 8th accused had been released by the President.
"The DPP told me that he had advised the President, through the Attorney-General's Chamber and Ministry of Justice, that there is a case, and that they should be prosecuted. As a result, it led to the re-arrest of the 2nd, 7th and the 8th accused persons," Lang told a crowded courtroom.
"The DPP told me that 'the choice is yours' that if I don't accept my involvement in the coup plot, I will be prosecuted and taken before a firing squad."
"I said to the DPP what I told the panel: that if I planned any coup, I will tell you to lead me to the President to apologise."
"I told the DPP that I prefer to remain at Mile 2 Central Prison rather than to tell a lie.
"I have been a CDS for three years six months, and I have all the privileged information to know all the 'sangas'. If I wanted anything, I will not use criminals and liars like Ebrima (PW1). As the former CDS, I had the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF), that is, the Army, National Guard and the Navy, and if I wanted a coup I would have used the officers and soldiers under my command, rather than to go and train 300 mercenaries in a foreign land."
"As a CDS, at the time I had the entire armoury under my command. The arms and ammunitions were under my command, and if I wanted a coup I had all these to use rather than to go to a foreign land to buy arms and ammunitions.
"I have demonstrated my highest support and loyalty to the President, which goes down to my family. My wife was the President of the Soldiers Wives Association. I had worked with the first President as the second in command of the presidential guard and little was known of me, but today, thanks to God, it's because of the President and Commander-in-Chief that General Tamba was known."
"These allegations against me and seven others are a mere lie and fabrication by those individuals who wanted to distance me and separate me from the President, because of my loyalty to the President."
"My loyalty to the President will never change until I am in my grave. I have left everything in the hands of God, who knows what is wrong and right," Lt. General Lang Tombong Tamba declared as he concludes his marathon testimony in his own defence, which took four days.
Justice Emmanuel Amadi adjourned the case to 31st May 2010 at 1 pm.
Source: The Point Online |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Karamba
United Kingdom
3820 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2010 : 20:46:16
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| Lang Tombong laments in court as though sending message for the head chopper to drop the weapons. It is very much likely his trick works. Others tried same ways so they know how to pull strings. |
Karamba |
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