To shed light on the commission’s tractor sales, Janneh Commission Secretary Ramou Sarr addressed the National Assembly Select Committee on the Sales and Disposal of Former President Yahya Jammeh’s Assets.
Sarr brought attention to disparities in the sales proceeds throughout her testimony. According to her, out of the 186 tractors found during the first and second rounds of the commission, 41 were kept for state usage and 145 were sold. She added that five of the 55 tractors up for auction were reserved.
According to Sarr, Mr. Kurang’s 43 tractor sales brought in GMD 10.5 million, while her team sold 102 tractors in October 2018 and made GMD 13 million.
“Is it possible to explain why more than double the number of tractors brought only a marginally higher sum?” asked Counsel Dibba in question of the discrepancy. In an attempt to find a reason for the lower proceeds, he also noted that the first auction phase was significantly more fruitful than the second. “Does that have an explanation?” “What?” asked Counsel Dibba.
Sarr said that the market value of some tractors was impacted since they had been tampered with and had missing parts. The manipulation happened after the initial inventory was taken, she noted. “What they explained was that some tractors were not able to attract the prices earmarked by the valuer because they were tampered with and some parts were missing,” she explained.
The witness was further questioned by Counsel Dibba regarding the discrepancies in sales figures between her team and Mr. Kurang. Sarr acknowledged the large disparity in reported revenue and acknowledged that she ought to have looked into the differences more. She went on to say that her monitoring was limited since her team had sent reports to the commissioners and lead counsel directly rather than to her.
