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By Assan Sallah
Lawyer Lamin Mboge, defence counsel for Sergeant Lamin Sima has described the decision of the management of the Drug Law Enforcement Agency of The Gambia (DLEAG) to dismiss his client Sergeant Lamin Sima as premature, claiming that the agency has confirmed that investigations into his client’s case are still ongoing. The erudite lawyer also maintained that his client, until proven guilty by a competent court of law, should be interdicted and paid a half salary, but should not be dismissed for the offence he has been alleged to have committed.
He vows to take legal action against the DLEAG for his client’s wrongful dismissal if at the end of the case his client is found not guilty and if the Staff Code of Conduct of the drug agency does not give genuine reasons for such dismissal despite the alleged offence.
Lawyer Mboge made these remarks during a telephone interview with The Digest News on Monday evening.
Sergeant Lamin Sima, widely known as Babou Sima is a Narcotics officer posted at the NDLEA Unit at New Yundum Station. He was arrested in March this year by officers of the Anti-Crime Unit (ACU) of the Gambia Police Force. He is suspected of drug trafficking and had since been detained at the drug agency’s CTI Unit in Bijilo until recently when he was dismissed and granted bail, while investigations are ongoing.
The Digest News made a follow-up report on the dismissal of Sergeant Sima and contacted his lawyer, Lamin Mboge for his reaction to the latest development in his client’s case.
Lawyer Mboge had this to say: “Their action is premature in the sense that they have not yet concluded their investigation. There are other matters that relate to Sima’s case. The drug agency officers arrested a mechanic and his wife (names withheld) from Brikama and the wife lost her pregnancy while in detention.”
Mboge said the mechanic was detained for 13 days without charge, adding that it is a violation of his rights.
“The wife of the mechanic is just a witness and I told the drug agency officers that witnesses should not be detained. She was detained from Friday night until Monday night and she lost her pregnancy during this period. I warned the drug law enforcement agency to compensate and apologize to her because I will write a petition against them if they fail to do so. I started the process on Monday, and I spoke to the Officer Commanding (OC) at CTI in Bijilo. I am taking my time to gather more facts and make up my mind this week,” he asserted.
Regarding the arrest of the mechanic as a suspect in Sima’s case, Lawyer Mboge said the mechanic was an associate of Sima but not his friend.
“Sima’s friend is a businessman (car dealer) and the garage where they take their cars for repair and maintenance is where they suspected. That is why they arrested the mechanic and detained him for 13 days without charge. They also arrested the mechanic’s wife to serve as a witness,” he disclosed.
Sima should be interdicted and be paid half salary until he is arraigned and found guilty and convicted and sentenced before the agency can dismiss him. He promised to go through the agency’s staff Code of conduct of the drug agency to find out if the reasons for Lamin Sima’s dismissal are genuine or not before taking a case against them.
“At the end of the investigation, if the allegations are false and there is no case against him too, then his dismissal is unlawful. Presently it is premature to dismiss him, and it is also premature to say the dismissal is wrong because the investigations are ongoing,” he remarked.
Contacted to shed light on Sima’s dismissal, Ousman Saidybah, the public relations officer of the DLEAG, said the management’s decision was based on Section 7 of the agency’s Code of Conduct and the charges were discreditable conduct and negligent of duty.
He said: “The present decision of the management of the agency is based on Section 5:1 (5) b of the agency’s staff service rules and similarly Section 7 (b) of the agency’s staff Code of Conduct. His actions were seen to have breached part III sub part 1 (4) (a) and (g) respectively of the Code of Conduct.”
According to the drug agency’s spokesperson, the Professional Standards Disciplinary Committee (PSDC) investigated the matter as required by the provisions of the service rules and code of conduct and made their recommendations.
“The management arrived at this decision as part of internal control regulations and provisions that every staff promised to adhere to in both their appointment and promotion letters. We are cognizant of the provision for introduction, but the decision is an internal administrative mechanism and decision,” he concluded.
Readers would recall investigations made by The Digest News had revealed that the suspect Lamin Sima was earlier arrested towards the end of January, following the arrest of one Sanna Jarjue, a resident of Brikama who was suspected of drug dealing. Jarjue told the investigators that Lamin Sima used to transport the drugs he receives from the Gambian border villages near Cassamance.
Sergeant Lamin Sima was then demoted from Chief Inspector to the rank of Sergeant on 20th January 2020. He was sent to CB (Confined to Barracks) for two weeks at the DLEAG CTI unit in Bijilo, from 21st January to 3rd February and was warned to refrain from any such act and adhere to the agency’s staff service rules as well staff Code of Conduct.