By: Fatou Krubally
Mamadi Kurang, former Secretary of the Janneh Commission, has told a parliamentary committee that the Office of the Sheriff never submitted any report on the final sale of livestock identified during the Commission’s inquiry into former President Yahya Jammeh’s assets.
Appearing before the special select committee on Wednesday, Mr. Kurang explained that while he oversaw the tagging and valuation of cattle at ranges in Kanilai, Farato, and Banjulinding, the process shifted after a High Court order directed the sale to be handled by the Sheriff’s Division.
He said the Commission had initially planned a transparent valuation and sale, noting that the more open the process, the higher the value derived. He added that based on his experience, a valuer’s estimate could be exceeded by three times if the sale process were transparent.
Kurang described how the Commission found cattle kept in multiple fenced ranges inside Kanilai, with tight security and multiple layers of fencing manned by soldiers. He confirmed livestock was also kept at Farato and Banjulinding, although the Banjulinding herd was smaller, and some animals had already been released for grazing by the time his team arrived.
He told lawmakers he did not see any government official managing the Banjulinding herd, except a herdsman he did not get to meet. At Kanilai, he found large fenced enclosures and military security around the former president’s residence.
Kurang testified that once the High Court ordered the Sheriff’s Division to handle the sale, he “played no further part” in the sales process and did not receive any official report or account of how many cattle were sold, for how much, or who bought them. He confirmed that up to the time he left, no one from the Commission or his office had requested such a report from the Sheriff’s Division.
He also told the committee he had expected the disposal of assets to be fully documented and included in the final Commission report to the President, but found that details of the livestock sales were missing when the report was eventually published.
Kurang concluded that although he contributed to drafting the early outline of the Commission’s report, final decisions on content rested with the commissioners and legal counsel.