Local Government Candidate's Supporters Detained The Independent (Banjul) May 6, 2002 Posted to the web May 6, 2002 Makalo Banjul Reports reaching The Independent have intimated that three supporters of the defeated independent candidate for the New Jeshwang ward in the local government elections Musa Colley were detained by the Tallinding police. The Independent has been reliably informed that the three detainees Omar Wadda Bah the project coordinator of the New Jeshwang skill centre, Ousman Gaye its financial controller and one Abdou Balajo were accused of alleged arson threats on the compound of Honourable Mam Mbye Secka the National Assembly Member (NAM) for the area and the New Jeshwang skill centre. According to reports, after the three were bailed by one Dodou Bittaye, they were again called to the police station on the same day together with the defeated independent candidate and were subsequently detained for allegedly breaking into the office of Honourable Secka who is also the administrator of the skill centre, which was also allegedly threatened with arson. Reports further stated that they were later released after the police visited the skill centre. According to Mark Sonko the whole controversy started when they decided to support Musa Colley who was contesting as an independent candidate for the local government elections. This decision was made after what he described as bias selection by the APRC New Jeshwang bureau. He highlighted that at first Honourable Secka supported their idea describing it as the only solution to the problem. Mr. Sonko alleged that he (Secka) gave them D600 to pay for their forms and an extra D400 for the cultural troupe 'Sabarr' needed for the campaign. 'We were surprised after holding our first campaign rally to receive a phone call from him telling us that he heard that we were insulting him,' he explained, adding that it was ridiculous to burn the hand, which provided funds for them. He revealed that on Wednesday 24 April, Omar Wadda Bah was arrested and detained at the Police Intervention Unit (PIU) after being accused of threatening to burn down Honourable Secka's compound and the skill centre. 'The skill centre belongs to the community and not to Hon Secka, so how can we burn that down,' he asked. He further said that they and their defeated candidate went to greet the elected councilor Modou Lamin Badjie. 'We could have stopped them from jubilating in our strong hold if we wanted to create unrest,' he said. Ousman Gaye, the financial controller at the skill centre claimed that on Saturday 27 April, as they were in Mark Sonko's compound, they received a mobile phone call from Secka's mobile (949160), insulting their mothers and informing them that they were going to be attacked. 'We reported the matter to the police,' he said, in conformity with a request that the police should be informed in the event of any attack. 'To our surprise, when we were on our way home, Omar Bah's son informed us that the police were searching for us,' he said adding that when they returned to the station, they were told by the police OC of the station Jesus that he had received a phone call from Secka who said he was threatened with arson. 'You see we were called and provoked at the same time while the police were called to arrest us,' he angrily stated. He asserted that they were informed by the police OC that they should write a statement and that they are going to be detained until bailed. Mr. Gaye further highlighted that when they were bailed and in the evening of the same day, as they were having a meeting in Gomez kunda, they received another phone call that the three and Musa Colley should report to the police. He added that when they arrived at the police station, they were charged with breaking into the office of Honourable Secka and some files were taken and that D6000 was kept in his drawer. 'The files I have taken was our meeting files and in fact those files were in my office and not his,' he further claimed. He added that they were told to write another statement and that they will be detained. He said the police then visited the center after which they were released with the order that nobody should enter the skill centre premises until Monday 29 April. 'To our surprise, when we reported to the station on Monday, all charges against us were dropped except Omar Wadda Bah,' he asserted noting that the charges against Mr. Bah were later dropped. When contacted to shed light on the matter the NAM for the area Honourable Mam Mbye Secka enquired about the source of the story, before saying that it does not worth a newspaper headline since the problem has been amicably resolved. He said he was in Karantaba (Jarra), Lower River Division when received a phone call from one Mundow Bojang informing him that Mohammed Camara, the computer instructor at the skill centre was being provoked by the accused after asking him for the key to the main gate. He said that he called the Tallinding police to inform them about the matter. Honourable Secka said that later, he received another phone call to be informed that these same individuals had opened one of his office doors and were about to open the second one, and that some files have been taken away. He said he does not know the motive behind them breaking into his office and what they had taken away but claimed that he kept some cash in his office drawer. 'I then again informed the police about the matter, and they visited the skill centre' he explained. _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~