Yankuba Colley is wrong, says O.J.

Yankuba Colley is wrong, says O.J.

Mafugi Ceesay

“Yankuba Colley missed the point when he said properties and assets of former PPP government and its ministers were legally seized,” Omar Jallow, popularly known as O.J. argues.

“It was the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) which was ruling by decree that seized our properties without respecting Degrees number 11 and 25 which they promulgated,” the current leader of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) told The Voice on March 23, 2013.

In a story captioned “Mayor Colley Rebuts Claim, Defends Seizure of PPP Assets” published by The Voice on March 18, the acting Mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council said: “It was not president Jammeh who seized properties and assets of PPP government and its ministers. I think that was wrong information. It was not the president who went out to seize their assets and properties. Their assets and properties were not seized by power but by law.”

His statement was referring to claims by O.J. made seven months ago. O.J., an ex-Agriculture Minister of the ousted PPP Government, claims the seizure was illegal.

On Saturday, O.J. said “Yankuba Colley's statements are misleading”. The AFPRC overthrew the PPP regime on 22 July, 1994, suspended the constitution and ruled by Degree from 1994 to 1996.

He said: “Decree number 11 established the Bamfore Commission that summoned all former ministers and senior government officials of the PPP including President Jawara and Vice President Saihou Sabally.

“That commission sat for eleven months. Decree number 11 states that the commission will sit in public and the report of the commission will be made public.

“Decree number 25 states that before the final publication of the commission's report, the draft should be sent to all those who appeared before it for them to raise objections to the findings if they want to.”

“But, the Commission's Report was never made public nor sent to any individual that came before it," according to O.J. "Therefore, the seizure of PPP assets and its ministers was illegal and a total violation of the decrees promulgated by the AFPRC.”

He added: “I would like to tell Yankuba Colley that there was no constitution to base the seizure of these assets and properties.”

The Commission of enquiry was set up between October and November 1994 to investigate allegations of corruption in the former regime led by prime minister and President Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, 1965 to 1994.