Sidia Questions Progress on Investigation Deyda Hydara, Chief Manneh and Kanyiba 
 
By Abdoulie G. Dibba 
 
In the ongoing sitting of the National Assembly in the first quarter session of 2010, Hon. Sidia Jatta of Wuli West asked the Minister for the Interior to inform the august body what efforts are being made to investigate the death of Deyda Hydara and the disappearance of Chief Ebrima Manneh and Kanyiba Kanyi.
 
In response, Interior Minsiter Ousman Sonko said in the case of Chief Ebrima Manneh, the government has investigated his whereabouts but to no avail. He added that government has even launched an appeal to the public for anyone who has information regarding his whereabouts to provide it to the police. H e said in 2009 the Attorney General and Minister of Justice also conducted a personal visit to the country’s prisons and the detention centres of the NIA together with the leader of the opposition United Democratic Party and the Minority Leader of the National Assembly in search of the missing peoples like Kanyiba Kanyi and Chief Ebrima Manneh but that they were not found in any of these places and have also not been registered in their diaries. Minister Sonko added that these were announced visits. 
 
On the case of Deyda Hydara, the Interior Minister said the murder is also under investigation. He however said that there are challenges because the two key witnesses in this case are outside the jurisdiction and that the several attempts made to reach them have been unsuccessful. He said once the investigation is concluded, the culprits will surely be brought to book.
 
At this stage, the Minority Leader, Hon. Momodou Sanneh called the attention of the Speaker and the Speaker asked whether he has a supplementary question. The Minority Leader however indicated that he has a point of correction. The Speaker however told the Minority Leader that what the minister said could not be corrected but that he can ask a supplementary question.. 
 
In a supplementary question, Sidia, the Member for Wuli West, asked the minister whether he could say for certain that the minority leader was part of the team which visited all the prisons and detentions centres.
 
Minister Sonko responded that with regards to the minority leader being part of the team he will have to confirm it but maintained that for the UDP leader was part of the team.
In another supplementary question, the Wuli West National Assembly Member asked that when the Minister for the Interior said outside the jurisdiction then which part of the world could this particular person or persons be. He further asked whether The Gambia has any possibility of inter-government arrangement to make such person or persons available in this country.
 
Responding, Interior Minister Sonko said ‘outside the jurisdiction’ means outside the country and that to be precise, he said, they (the two key witnesses in Deyda’s murder) are in the sister republic of Senegal and that all efforts to get these witnesses proved futile.





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