By Fatou Dahaba
In a fiery testimony, Sergeant Adama Jagne, a former State Guard operative at the Kotu Workshop, vehemently denied accusations of pilfering government vehicles, branding a senior police official’s claims as outright fabrications.
Testifying before the National Assembly’s Special Select Committee on Tuesday, Jagne, now a sergeant stationed at the Kotu State Guard Workshop, directly refuted a bombshell 2017 letter from Chief Superintendent Nfamara Saidyba, the Controller of Government Vehicles.
Saidyba’s missive painted a grim picture of rampant mismanagement in the wake of Yahya Jammeh’s ouster, alleging that engines and vital parts were stripped from dozens of state vehicles left rusting at the Kotu facility. He further accused unnamed actors of unauthorized relocations, including the transfer of four government tractors to a private garage in Bundung – a move that raised red flags about the siphoning of public assets during the power vacuum.
“These allegations are false and misleading,” Jagne declared, his voice steady but edged with frustration as he faced a panel of lawmakers probing the Janneh Commission’s findings on recovered state property.
The Janneh Commission, established after the transition, uncovered billions of dollars in misappropriated assets under Jammeh’s 22-year rule, including fleets of luxury vehicles and heavy machinery now at the heart of this inquiry.
Jagne, who oversaw operations at the workshop under the State Guard banner, painted a starkly different narrative. He described inheriting a site in utter disarray: no formal handover from predecessors, zero inventory logs, and vehicles arriving sans engines – relics of the hasty exodus that followed Adama Barrow’s inauguration. “I met the place in a poor and disorganized state,” he said. “We had to improvise to keep things running.”
The soldier conceded to “cannibalizing” parts – a mechanic’s term for salvaging components from derelict vehicles to resurrect others – but insisted this was a pragmatic fix, not plunder. “Those vehicles were government property, not the former president’s personal toys,” Jagne emphasized. “We never removed or sold any for personal benefit. Our goal was functionality, nothing more.”
Yet, the session crackled with tension as committee members zeroed in on thorny details. Lawmakers grilled Jagne on his chain of command, highlighting inconsistencies in his account: he initially claimed allegiance to the State Guard, then pivoted to verbal orders from Saidy Bah. In a particularly eyebrow-raising revelation, Jagne admitted to seizing a civilian’s vehicle from one Sana at Bah’s alleged directive – though he stressed that it was promptly returned, with no questions asked.
