(JollofNews) – President Adama Barrow of the Gambia has fired the head of the country’s notorious Mile Two Prisons, days after he vowed to improve the conditions of jails across the country.
David Colley, Gambia’s long serving prisons commissioner, was sent packing Friday. No reasons was given for his sacking.
He is succeeded by one Ansumana Manneh.
Mr Colley’s sacking comes barely two weeks after a tour of the prison’s facilities by the country’s new Interior Minister, Mai Ahmad Fatty, which drew attention to the deplorable conditions in which thousands of inmates including opponents of former president Yahya Jammeh were kept.
But in a series of interviews conducted recently, Mr Colley, who joined the prison service in the 1970s, denied allegations of torture and other inhumane treatment allegedly meted out on inmates behind the iron gates of the prisons.
Mr Colley served as commissioner of prison for many years before he was arrested sacked in June 2007. Shortly after his sacking, he was detained for weeks before being charged with stealing a 5.5 KVA generator and D27,000.
He was later acquitted on the charge of stealing D27,000.00 but found guilty of stealing the generator, following a legal battle that lasted several months. He was subsequently ordered to pay back the generator and fined D3000.00.
Following the death of his successor, Agnes Rose Klu, in 2008, Mr Colley was reappointed to the job. But in January 2012, he was relieved from the post for the third time and re-deployed to the Ministry of the Interior and NGO Affairs.
In April 2013, Mr Colley, a native of Kanilai, was again reinstated as prisons commissioner, a position he held until his removal by the regime of Adama Barrow.
Denial of torture at Mile 2 was his downfall – inmates from Ebrima Chongan in 1994-1996 to those who were imprisoned there recently with Lawyer Ousianou “Mandela” Darboe, Foreign Minister, are witnesses to torture at Mile 2. You deny the obvious you get fired – and may be even arrested if the evidence of torture leads to you. Surely Barrow’s government is living up to expectations. Inspite of Halifa’s “reconciliation” blah, blah, those who committed crimes must be held accountable. Well done and keep it up Mai Fatty.
Dormu Rewwum Gambia, I have tried to understand the psyche of some of these people but I must admit I have been unsuccessful. Can you or anyone help me please. What planet are they living on? Are they that stupid not to work out that justice will catch up with them? There are well documented evidences of atrocities committed within the walls of their institutions, so denying it is like denying that the Pope is Catholic. The victims of these tortures are still alive and there are also credible witnesses whose testimonies will be any prosecutor’s dream. Colley should have resigned after the visit of the Ministers from the only two ministeries his institution has direct relationship with, Interior and Justice. The Ministers did not hide their dismay at the appalling conditions the prisoners were kept in. Why did he think they went there without advance notice with a camera crew? They are both lawyers so they did that to gather and document evidence. Lawyers love documentary evidence. It is a shame he had to learn that the hard way. There is no way he could survive that TAC team visit. He was toast after that visit, in fact he was lucky he was not arrested and locked up that very day. What on earth possessed him to give interviews and putting the spotlight on himself? And why deny something that is globally known to be true? Has he been sitting there saying to himself that “Inshallah” nothing will go wrong? Well something has and will continue to go wrong for him. If he denies acts of torture takes place in Mile 2 then he is most likely to deny that the conditions there are appalling. So the only way to make him see sense is to send him there on a nice long all inclusive tax payer funded holiday. Lets see how much he enjoys it there.
The psyche baffles me too Buba! Barrow is polite and will shake hands – but that certainly does NOT shield criminals! Pa Mbai is reporting this morning that the Ganja-Munching-Youth-Torturing Jammeh CDS is also History! WOW! Mai Fatty is the new JATTO in The Gambia. God Bless him – and more power to his elbow.
Why attach the label of “reconciliation” to Halifa alone? Every body is talking about “reconciliation”, my in law. Even President Barrow talks about reconciliation.
Halifa is on record that citizens who are victims of crimes should lodge a complaint with the Police.
All these top security chiefs, including CDS and IGP, should go. They were complicit in what was happening, either by commission or omission. They knew what was happening was wrong, but chose to be part of it. They can’t have it both ways.
Bax, I saw yesterday’s QUESTION on Foroyaa and it seem to put “RECONCILIATION” before “JUSTICE” for victims.
But some believe strongly that CD’s refusal to confront ECOMIG was a swift and urgent reason why Jammeh had believed that the game was over, hence he decided to go. Given this development, CDs deserves to be compensated.
I believe this government will recycle CDS as he try to show loyalty to coalition government, he will be reconsidered may be a better job than army. Let’s just wait and see unless someone black mail him.
Mba Mba, CDS was doing his job and unless am living on a different planet, the Gambian tax payers have been compensating him for it for many years now. It is called a salary. Should we to compensate all those individuals who actually put their livelihoods and lives at stake by calling on Jammeh from the start to go? Because one could argue that they started the momentum that culminates in Jammeh running with his tail between his legs. CDS nearly plunge the country into civil war because of his flip flopping decision making and terrible communication with the Gambian public. Tafel, I am on record that the CDS, IGP and other security and civil service personnel should be placed on administrative leave and a commission set up urgently to look into their knowledge and involvement in the human rights and economic crimes committed during Jammeh’s regime. Anyone exonerated can then be given their job back or redeployed to another sector with a promotion. president Barrow should be measured in his involvement with certain individuals before a commission can clear them of any wrong doing. I don’t know CDS in person, in fact never heard of him when I was in the Gambia but he seems a decent guy and I have no doubt that he loves his job and loves the Gambia. However he doesn’t have the requisite skills and competence for the post of CDS. Therefore if Barrow wants to successfully restructure the arm forces he should offload the current CDS as soon as feasible.