This story has just been sitting in our cocaine column, but the headline is so good we had to spread the news a bit!
I’ll just repeat that
Magistrate Colley assigned me to carry boxes of cocaine into his Chambers, says Judiciary Process Server
Abdoulie Dampha, a judiciary process server attached at Kanifing Magistrates’ Court on Thursday told the court that Magistrate Ebrima Janko Colley sometime last year at Kanifing Magistrates’ Court assigned him to carry boxes of cocaine into his court chambers.
In his testimony before Justice Sarah Aryee of Banjul High Court, the fourth (4) prosecution witness (PW4), Abdoulie Dampha said sometime last year, Magistrate Ebrima Janko Colley asked him to carry boxes of cocaine into his court chambers.
According to him, when Magistrate Colley assigned him to carry the boxes of cocaine into the chambers Alieu Nyang and Lamin Jarjue were present at Kanifing Magistrates’ Court.
Dampha revealed that he had been working with Magistrate Colley and Othman for sixteen (16) years, but he estimated knowing the court clerk Mariama Jankeh Tamba for four years.
“Alieu Nyang told me that I was carrying cocaine, and advised me to wash my hands immediately’’, Dampha stated.
He adduced that since Magistrate Colley assigned him to carry the boxes of cocaine he had not heard about the alleged missing 52 blocks of cocaine until the day he was phoned by police investigators.
However, Dampha, under cross-examination by defense lawyer Musa Batchilly for the accused, disclosed that he had never seen Magistrate Colley, Ridwan Othman, and Mariama Jankeh Tamba engage in any criminal activity.
When asked by lawyer Batchilly if he tried to find out the reason why Magistrate Colley asked him to carry boxes of cocaine into his chambers, he responded in the negative but noted that he was later informed that the exhibit store of Kanifing Magistrates’ Court was full at the time.
At the peak of his cross-examination, Dampha said he did not see cocaine in the boxes Magistrate Colley assigned him to carry into his chambers.
Meanwhile, the court record indicated that the former Principal Registrar of Kanifing Magistrates’ Court, Ridwan Othman, and Magistrate Ebrima Janko Colley are charged for conspiracy to commit a felony, theft, dealing in prohibited drugs, fraud, and breach of trust while the court clerk, Maraiama Jankeh Tamba is facing neglect of official duty.
