Former lieutenant Demba Njie said he received a call from former army chief Lang Tombong Tamba telling him that Koro has died and he suspected a foul play. Then, according to Njie, Tombong was the head of State Guards. Njie’s testimonies have indicated that both Koro Ceesay’s murder and the killing of soldiers on November 11 were ordered by former dictator Yahya Jammeh.
According to the 23rd witness before the Truth Commission probing the human rights violations of the former dictator Yahya Jammeh, country former finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay was killed at the Kololi residence of former junta Yankuba Touray.
Former lieutenant Demba Njie have not explained if Touray has played any role in the killing of the former minister.
Ceesay was found dead in June 1995 in the burned-out wreckage of his car. Despite repeated requests and their own declarations, the Jammeh administration did not organize any investigation into the cause of death.
Unconfirmed reports suggested that he was killed by people close to the AFPRC before the car was set alight.
“After Jammeh left for Ethiopia, Koro was asked to join the vehicle of Edward (Singhateh) and as I heard they drove to Yankuba Touray’s house at Kololi… and that is where he was killed and taken to Jambur area… That is where the car was burned. I have heard even the brother of Edward Singhateh, Peter Singhateh, had a burnt on his hand,” said Njie.
And Njie who introduced Ceesay to Jammeh as a trusted friend was with the dictator with Ethiopia when the incident happened. He was at the time his chief of staff.
Njie said he received a call from former army chief Lang Tombong Tamba telling him that Koro has died and he suspected a foul play.
Njie said the claim was that Koro’s car was involved in an accident and burnt killing him but the vehicle has no single dent which raised suspicion.
“And what surprised me was that while we were there (Ethiopia) I have never heard Yahya Jammeh mentioning the name of Koro Ceesay, a state minister I introduced him to. He did not even talk to me about it,” said Njie.
Njie said he would later learned that Jammeh has an unusual discussion with Edward before he left the Banjul International Airport for Addis Ababa prior to Ceesay’s killing.
It is not clear why and how Ceesay was killed. However, there were reports indicating that Ceesay had attempted to stop the soldiers from looting staff coffers after coming to power.
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