Folks


Please read Edward Singateh's testimony to the Commission of Inquiry. I do not believe an inch of what he is saying. Edward Singateh has not explained  to the Paul Commission the 5million dollars which was shared among the AFRC council members.


Sanusi




News
Singhatey, Sallah, Mboob testify
By DO
Jul 27, 2004, 12:48


SoS Singhatey
Edward Singhatey, the secretary of state for Trade, Industry and Employment became the fifth cabinet member to appear before the Paul Commission to render an account of his assets and property acquired since July 1994.
Mr Singhatey disclosed that he had travelled 50 times worldwide from 1994 and received per diems but was not in position to provide a run-down of his trips and per diems. He however promised to produce it to the commission within three days.
Asked by state counsel Emmanuel Fanbenle whether he was usually given imprests, SoS Singhatey replied: “When I was at the President’s Office, there were impress which I never touched. But as SoS, there was none.”
He said the per diems paid to him do not go to his account. “The Accountant General gives me a cheque when I’m travelling. When I return, if there is any balance for those per diems, I use it on the building I’m doing or on my farm or helping in buying bags of rice and paying school fees for people,” he said. He told the commission that neither his spouse nor relatives go along with him on his trips.
Giving a run-down of his financial assets, SoS Singhatey revealed that he receives between D8,000 and D9,000 as his monthly salary and that apart from that salary and travel allowance he has no other source of income. He said he does not have a fixed deposit account within or outside the country. “I have no overseas account and I’m not a shareholder in any company in The Gambia,” he said.
On his landed properties and other assets, SoS Singhatey testified that he has a plot of land at Kotu stone quarry given to him by President Jammeh. “The plot is sitting on the Kotu quarry and it is being used as a dumpsite. It is a big place. Part of it is waterlogged all year round. So, I have applied to [the department of state for] Local Government and Lands to beautify it and they have given me approval”, he stated.
He said the land is presently being developed and that about D500,000 has gone into it so far. He said he has received some assistance from his wife’s father who he said is an ex-contractor and was undertaking the construction which makes the labour cost minimal. He added that President Jammeh has also contributed in the development of the plot.
“I have an outstanding debt owed to Jammeh Kunda Enterprise [Bakau] to the tune of D55,000 for corrugated iron sheets and tiles for the house I’m building in Kotu,” Singhatey testified.
Explaining how the land gift came about, Singhatey said: “In 1995, I was in the President’s Office and we were talking about land allocations and how unfair allocations had been before 1994. It was during the period when the Lands Commission was still on. I explained to the President my inability to have a plot of land despite numerous applications. He told me that he had been allocated a plot of land when he was an officer in the Gendamerie. That was how the gift came about.”
Further asked the time when the approval for the extension of the said land was given, he said about two months ago. He promised to produce the letter of approval to that effect to the commission within three days as requested.
Further testifying, SoS Singhatey mentioned a state allocation of one plot of land at Bijilo to his office in 2002, which he said has not yet been developed. “There was one trip of gravel and one trip of sand which was supposed to go to Kotu [his compound] but I took it there. I was responsible for that cost. I have not been allocated a plot of land by government from 1994 to date.
I did not apply on behalf of anybody, whether spouse or children. I don’t know if anyone has applied for a plot of land on my behalf but nobody has been allocated a plot of land for my sake,” he testified.
SoS Singhatey also mentioned other land properties he and his wife (Aji Singhatey) have. He said his wife travelled with the first lady to Abuja in 1997 and upon return used the allowances she received to acquire a freehold property in Farato, which he said has not yet developed. He said his wife also has a farmland in Manneh village, Jokadu.
He said his financial input in that farm was the provision of initial seeds in 2002 and a barbed wire fence. “I don’t keep the records there. I don’t even know the number of rolls of barbed wire were put there,” he said. He further explained that the plot is about three to five hectares and is shared by him his wife and his brother. He however stated that he was only responsible for the fencing of his and his wife’s shares of the land.
Singhatey also mentioned a plot of land in Basse Mansajang that was given to him by a former commissioner there. He estimated the total expenditure in that land as less than D10,000 as it was only cleared and fenced which was not complete.
Another land SoS Singhatey mentioned was a farm in Sito Koto in Nianija, CRD, which he said he obtained by giving about D6,000 to the alkalo who he said was “like an uncle” to him.
He said he has planted “a lot of trees” there but that the implements he bought for that farm cost less than D5,000. Justice Paul therefore ordered that the said land “is a licensed land and not a freehold and it is therefore ordered as prayed.”
Further asked about properties at his house, SoS Singhatey mentioned a DVD player which he said he bought last year for 59 pounds sterling. He also listed a TV set, radio and jewelry and ornaments in his house acquired since 1994 to date as approximately D50,000.
He revealed that he has never bought a vehicle in his life. He said the Nissan Terrano vehicle which his brother uses is a gift.
On his wife’s other activities and assets, SoS Singhatey said she is not presently engaged in anything and that she has closed the tailoring shop she had at her father’s compound in Banjul because she was running at a loss. He denied having any interest in any plot of land around the Golf Course area in Fajara.
SoS Singhatey also told the commission that when he was in a position where Government contracts were awarded, such contracts were awarded through application and forwarded to the cabinet. He said while he was at the department of state for Works Communication and Infrastructure, his department had a problem with CSE which he said had a monopoly over the construction industry. He said he then opened up competition. He also revealed that he terminated a contract to Unitech Company for the construction of the Westfield-Mandinaba road but at the request of the Islamic Development Bank.
SoS Sallah
SoS SallahAlso testifying before the commission, the secretary of state for Tourism and Culture, Momodou Sallah, explained that before his appointment as SoS for Tourism on 22 November 2002, he served as managing director of AMRC from July 1994 to August 1995. “I left for Uganda to head a World Bank project for four years. As an SoS, I received D11,000 to D12,000 as my monthly salary. Since July 1994, I have not applied for a land to government. I have a land at Kotu but it is not fully completed but part of it is finished. I gave D60,000 to my wife to develop her Kerr Serign compound. I have no landed property in the name of my children. I have a farmland of 194x96 metres in Sukuta. I bought it in 1984/85 but it was leased in 1995. I have a family income of D3.1 million this year. D1.2 million was for rent income last year. I have a projected income of D899,000.”
On how much he has invested on his Kotu project since his appointment as SoS, Sallah said: “I don’t know. I will have to refer to records to answer that.” He was given three days by the commission to supply the details of that information.
SoS Sallah said he donated D15,000 to the APRC for the July 22 celebration. “Since my appointment as SoS, I have not saved anything from my per diem and I don’t have a foreign account.”
SoS Mboob
SoS MboobThe SoS for Agriculture, Sulayman Sait Mboob, also testifying before the commission, said he was appointed as SoS on 5 April 2004. “Before then, I have never worked for the APRC government. I am paid D14,733.33 as monthly salary. Since my appointment as SoS, I travelled once in June and I was paid US$200 by the US government. I have not bought anything from my salary. I used my local salary for charity. I worked for the United Nations for 21 years. I have a number of foreign accounts. I got a house in London, England valued at D6 million. I have another house in Accra, Ghana valued at D7 million. I am still paid my UN pension salary. I have never applied for land since I became SoS and I have not paid anything into my foreign account,” he concluded.


© Copyright 2003 by Observer Company





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