Justice Jaiteh of the High Court has granted bail to the former Minister of Lands, Sheriff Abba Sanyang, and six others following their arraignment on nine charges related to land corruption and fraud.
When the case was called state: S.L. Jobarteh and M. Sarr appeared for the state while the 1st Accused (Sheriff Abba Sanyang) was represented by Counsel K. Sanyang and the 2nd to 7th accused were represented by Counsel Lamin J. Darbo and F. Bondi.
Upon the reading of the Bill of Indictment, all seven accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them.
The state alleges the accused of a series of criminal acts centred around forfeited land in Kassa Kunda previously belonging to former President Yahya Jammeh.
Sheriff Abba Sanyang (1st Accused) faces counts of Abuse of Office (Section 90(1)) and Giving False Information to a Public Officer (Section 114). It is alleged that in 2022, while serving as Minister, he arbitrarily approved the retention of 40% of the Kassa Kunda land for purported customary owners and falsely represented the approval as lawful.
The Co-accused (2nd to 7th Accused): Cherno Serending Sabally, Kalilu Sanyang, Bakary Gomez, Bakary Sanneh, Lamin Sabally, and Malang Jarju face charges of Criminal trespass and obtaining goods by false pretence.
The State alleges the accused fraudulently sold portions of the land to various companies, obtaining a total of D13,100,000.00 across three separate counts (D12M, D800k, and D300k).
Following the “not guilty” pleas, State Counsel Jobarteh applied for the accused to be remanded in custody, seeking an adjournment to prepare witnesses.
Defence Counsel K. Sanyang countered that the offences were bailable and that his client had voluntarily appeared before the court after seeing the information in the news.
Counsel Lamin J. Darbo emphasised that the charges were misdemeanours carrying sentences of one to three years. Counsel Darbo argued that the court should focus on the nature of the punishment rather than the monetary amounts involved, citing Section 19 of the Constitution regarding the right to liberty.
A point of contention arose regarding the Criminal Offences Act, 2025 between state counsel and the defence counsel on the application of the new Criminal Act rather than the old Criminal Offences.
Counsel Darbo and the Court ultimately agreed that because the alleged crimes occurred in 2022, the repealed Criminal Code remains the applicable law.
On the issue of the D13.1 million, Counsel Darbo urged the court not to impose the full amount as a bail bond for each individual, but rather to divide it among the six co-accused to avoid a “manifestly disproportionate” burden.
Delivering his ruling, Justice Jaiteh affirmed that bail is the rule and detention the exception for non-capital offences.
“The Court finds no legal reason to deny the accused persons their constitutional right to bail,” Justice Jaiteh stated, noting that the charges under the Criminal Code were proper as statutes do not operate retrospectively.
Justice Jaiteh ordered the following bail conditions:
Sheriff Abba Sanyang: Granted bail in the sum of D1,000,000.00 and the 2nd to 7th accused each granted bail in the sum of D2,200,000.00 (an apportioned amount of the total D13.1 million).
Each accused must provide one Gambian surety who owns landed property within The Gambia equivalent to the bail sum. The Property must be valued by a certified Government or Estate Valuer and approved by the High Court Registrar.
The accused persons were permitted to remain on police bail until Thursday, March 12, 2026, to fulfil the conditions, after which they face remand if the terms are not met.
The case has been adjourned to April 20, 21, and 27, 2026, for the commencement of the hearing.
