By: Sainabou Sambou
Intense legal sparring marked proceedings in the High Court on Wednesday in the murder trial of Buba Drammeh, accused of fatally shooting Buba Jammeh during a violent 2019 clash stemming from a decades-old land dispute between the neighboring communities of Gunjur and Berending in Kombo South.
Presided over by Justice Omar Cham, the case—rooted in a deadly confrontation over contested farmland—took a procedural turn when defense counsel L.S. Camara vehemently objected to the prosecution’s attempt to call a crucial witness without furnishing a prior written statement.
Camara lambasted the prosecution’s “witness summary,” a scant two-and-a-half-line document, as wholly inadequate and potentially prejudicial. He argued that it included unsubstantiated factual claims by the drafter, such as the witness being present at the crime scene and assisting the deceased to Brikama Health Centre. These, Camara contended, amounted to untested allegations rather than a neutral preview of testimony, leaving the defense blindsided.
Describing the potential admission of the evidence as “a bolt from the blue,” Camara warned it would severely disadvantage the accused, denying him a fair opportunity to prepare. He invoked Section 24(3) of the 1997 Constitution, which guarantees an accused person “adequate time and facilities” for defense preparation, asserting that proper witness statements are essential to this right.
Camara further questioned the prosecution’s timing: despite filing notice of additional witnesses on October 13, 2025—just one day before trial commencement—they failed to secure a formal statement from this purportedly vital and incriminating source.
In response, state counsel M.D. Mballow defended the prosecution’s compliance with procedural law, citing Section 206 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He argued that no disclosure obligation exists for non-existent statements, as the witness had never provided a written account. Mballow emphasized that the law permits oral testimony from witnesses without prior statements and that courts retain discretion to summon them, insisting that this posed no violation of fair-trial principles.
The trial has drawn attention amid ongoing tensions in the Gunjur-Berending area, where land ownership claims have fueled intermittent conflicts, including the 2019 incident that claimed Jammeh’s life. Drammeh, who fled custody in 2020 before being rearrested in Senegal earlier this year, faces murder charges.
Justice Cham adjourned the matter to Thursday, December 11, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. for a ruling on the objection and possible testimony from the contested witness.
