Dear Madam
COMMONWEALTH REPRESENTATION AT THE PARADE OF
QUEEN SCOUTS, WINDSOR CASTLE 22ND APRIL 2007
Upon receipt of the instructions contained in tour letter ref: OP 127/01/Part IV (7) dated 31st October 2006 instructing me to ensure the GSA’s participation in the above Parade, arrangements were made to select participants from Lower River, Central and Upper Regions. (The last Parade was attended by participants from North Bank, Western Region and KMC).
In order travel up-country to screen and short list participants, I wrote a letter dated 2nd January 2007 (copy attached) to the Inspector General of Police requesting his assistance to recover the scout vehicles that the former National Executive Commissioner Baboucar Khan refused to handover despite several demands. So far, neither the office nor the vehicles have been handed over since the Executive Committee was restructured in April 2006.
Madam, the purpose of this letter is to kindly inform you that the date set aside for the interview and final selection of the Participants to the Queen’s Scout Parade is Saturday 10th February at 10 am. at the Little Trees Scout Camp.
In order to thwart and frustrate our efforts to select participants for the above event to meet the organizer’s deadline of 15th February as well as selecting participants for the Centenary celebrations who were selected country-wide, Mr. Ebou Manneh, National Scout Council Secretary circulated a letter that a ‘Formal Handing Over by Chief Scout Commissioner’ will take place at the same venue and at the same time that the selection exercise is scheduled to take place. (Copy enclosed).
Even though the letter was not directly addressed to me, the inference is that I will be handing over my duties as Chief Commissioner. No mention is made to whom I will be handing over, nor have I informed anyone that I will hand over before the audit and investigations are done. Clearly this provocative act is intentionally done to create chaos and confusions among innocent youths which could result to incitements, confrontations and confusion.
The illegal and unauthorized AGM which took place on 20th May 2006 at the School for the Deaf was categorically condemned by the Department of State for Youth & Sports as unauthorized and therefore the meeting and its outcome was not recognized. It was at that meeting that M. J. E. Sambou was elected President of the National Scout Council, David Haffner Chief Commissioner, Gibou Njie Finance Commissioner; the unsigned and uncompleted accounts approved. These accounts were neither signed by me or the auditors; they were mere drafts. Of the numerous and prominent Members of the National Scout Council there were only 2 Council Members present at that AGM, namely Pa Ousman Semega-Janneh as Chairman of the meeting and Mr. Sambou as the candidate. Throughout our 85 year history, the GSA had never held an AGM without the approval of the Chief Scout and never outside the grounds of State House.
Furthermore, in his letter addressed to Mr. Ebrima Manneh dated 13th March 2006, Alhajie A. E. Cham Joof, President of the National Scout Council informed Mr. Manneh that all Scout Council meetings are suspended. Therefore Mr. Manneh’s letter that the Scout Council met, on 13th January 2007 and approved the report of the Extra Ordinary meeting held on 20th May 2006 is invalid. This so called meeting was without the knowledge of the President of the Scout Council, nor were there other members of the Council. Mr. Sambou’s claim to be the elected President of the Scout Council prior the formal retirement of Alhajie A. E. Cham-Joof is against what he had been advised by Vice President Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy during the Security Council meeting. He had then agreed to wait the formal retirement of Mr. Cham-Joof which will take place at the next AGM. The desperate actions of Mr. Sambou and Mr. Manneh are evidently aimed at circumventing the directives issued vide your letter ref: OP 127/01/Part III (44) dated 21st February 2006:-
a Request for an immediate audit of The Gambia Scout Association’s main account and the Jacobs Foundation Project Account. Any unauthorized expenditure to be immediately refunded.
b The report of the Chief Commissioner to the Police to be immediately investigated and appropriate action taken
c The Chief Commissioner to immediately restructure the National Executive Committee with the mandate to prepare a new constitution followed by an election of a new Executive Committee.
Madam, I wish to respectfully report that I have restructured the National Executive Committee since April 2006 and have also prepared and circulated the new constitution in June 2006. However, Baboucarr Khan, who was removed as National Executive Commissioner has steadfastly refused to hand over the vehicles and the office and its contents, despite several demands and appeals to the police to intervene without success.
Moreover, Mr. Khan and some members of the Executive Committee is the subject of my report to the police as in (b) above.
In order to circulate the draft constitution, I wrote to the Permanent Secretary Department of Youth, Sports & Religious Affairs on 20th June 2006 for his intervention the Inspector General of Police. (Copy enclosed).
Concerning the auditing of the accounts, may I respectfully refer to my letter dated 10th May 2006 to the Auditors Augustus Prom copied to you (Copy enclosed).
Regarding the Police investigation on my report, the Department of State for Youth, Sports & Religious Affairs in their letter ref: MY 263/7/02 (48) dated 15th May 2006 addressed to the Inspector General of Police requested for the investigations to be carried out. As far as I know, nothing has been done. Last week as a follow-up of my letter dated 2nd January 2007 to the IG to secure the vehicles, I visited KMC Police Commissioner Gibba and Commissioner for Operations Famara Jallow. Their reaction was that they are not satisfied that I am the Chief Commissioner despite being shown correspondences emanating from your exalted Office addressed to me as Chief Commissioner.
Madam, I would in the circumstance appreciate your kind intervention so that a National Executive Committee could access the office. When we attempted last May to access the office, I was personally humiliated by the police that I have no mandate to use the office
b Both GSA and Jacobs Foundation Project be audited as at 31st Dec. 2006 so that any incoming Executive will start with a clean slate.
c The Police to conduct its investigations without further delay
d The scout vehicles to be handed over to the Executive Committee
I thank you for your usual cooperation and look forward to your kind consideration and early action.
Respectfully in Scouting
Chief Commissioner
Alieu Momarr Njai
Editors note: Another file will soon be declassified online. Stay tuned. There are more good stuffs lined for you. We thank our source forwarding such important communications to the Freedom Newspaper.