(JollofNews)- A former operative of the Gambia’s feared National Intelligence Agency (NIA) who is currently living in self-imposed exile in neighbouring Senegal has blamed the President’s Office for engineering his sacking.
Kalilu Janneh, who was head of the security task force investigating the alleged corruption of public finances by former officials of the Rural Finance Project under the Ministry of Agriculture, was sent packing from his job together with three members of the task force without any reasons.
A letter from the Gambia’s Personnel Management Office dated 12 March 2015 and signed by D.D Fadera, said: “This is to inform you that the Public Service Commission has concurred with executive directive to dismiss you from the service of the Gambia Government with effect from 12 March 2015.”
In an interview with JollofNews, Mr Janneh said: “No reason has been advanced for my dismissal and I’m not aware of any crime that I have committed so far. What remains true is that I have been dismissed together with three members of the panel from the services of the Gambia Government along with former IGP Yankuba Sonko, who was later redeployed to the Ministry of Justice.”
He said the investigating team worked under a climate of fear and were pressured and even threatened by the President’s Office to fast-track their findings on the conduct of the former Agric officials.
Mr Janneh added: “A strong presidential directive was issued to both the director-general of the NIA and the Inspector General of Police to conduct a full scale economic crime investigation on six staff of the Rural Finance Project and we were threatened even before we started our work. Unfortunately for us, were given our dismissal letters even before we finished our work.”
He said his life has been in danger since he was axed from the NIA and he was forced to flee the Gambia due to security fears.
“My life would have been in danger if I had stayed in Banjul,” he added. “It was only a matter of time and the best option left for me was to leave the country or pay the price. I know what I’m saying. I have been in the service for a decade and I know what is meant by a presidential directive.”
