Ndondi Njie, former Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), yesterday testified in an ongoing D6 million forgery case, involving Kawsu Ceesay, Chief Electoral Officer of the IEC.

Appearing before Magistrate Baboucarr Secka of the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court, Mr Njie, who appeared as the first prosecution witness, told the court that he knew the accused person, who has once worked under him at the IEC as the Chief Electoral Officer.

The 72-year old former IEC Chairman, confirmed to the court that he served at the IEC as the Chairman from July 2005 to July 2006, where he knew the Canadian company called the Code Incorporated. He said between November 2005 to March 2006, the commission was engaged in searching for potential supplier of registration materials for the country’s electoral body.

According to him, the process included searching for proforma invoices for the identified materials, in which Mr Ceesay, (the accused) was responsible to search through the internet and other means. He recalled that Mr Ceesay, brought him a proforma invoice of the Code Incorporated. He said he advised Mr Ceesay to look for more invoices from potential suppliers for a competitive bidding.

In a marathon testimony that lasted for nearly two hours, Mr Njie said between March and April, 2005, he received an invoice from another company called Land Trade, from Mr Ceesay. He said he then received note from Code Incorporated through e-mail, enquiring when the IEC would need the electoral materials. “I called Mr Ceesay’s attention to the fact that, we have not placed an order with regards to their electoral material,” Mr Njie told the court. According to him, he replied to Code Incorporated, informing them that IEC is yet to “place a firm order”. He said the Canadian based company later replied, informing him that the electoral materials were already packed in a container for shipment.

Mr Njie said the company stated in a document on the shipment that it would not take by firm order that is not accompanied by a full payment. “So I was getting frustrated, and then I sent an e-mail in March 2006 to the Code Incorporated company, that they did not place any firm order. And Mr Ceesay was required to collect proforma invoices and there was no way they could place a firm order under their terms, as IEC did not have the money equivalent to the amount stated in the proforma invoice,“ he said.

He also told the court that he used to correspond with Code Incorporated through his personal computer, confirming that the computer did not suffer from any breakdown nor any viral infection during that time.

Mr Njie identified a copy of an e-mail he sent to Code Incorporated dated 4th March, 2006 before it was tendered without any objection by the Defence Counsel Musa Bachilly, e-mail letter was then marked as exhibit.

The former IEC boss revealed that it took sometime before Code Incorporated responded, after sending the e-mail. He said he called Mr Ceesay for the second time and then asked him “who gave him the instruction to go ahead with the contract.”

He said in a meeting convened at the IEC and witnessed by three IEC commissioners: Sulayman Sait Mboob, Mrs Sarah Gray Johnson and Mr Saffie Njie, he (Ndondi Njie) confronted Mr Ceesay who gave him the order to sign the contract with the said company. He said Mr Ceesay responded to him, saying “I gave him an order verbally that he (Kawsu) should go ahead with the contract”.

Mr Njie continued that he later received a reply from Code Incorporated, which contained a detailed explanation on how the order was placed, adding that this was attached with a copy of the order the company claimed was sent by the IEC. He then identified the copy of the letter dated 12th December, 2005, before it was tendered as evidence and marked as exhibit.

He disclosed that there was no requisition from the accused with regards to the transaction between him and Code Incorporated, adding that he (Mr Njie) was removed from office on 17 July 2006.

According to Mr Njie, his removal from the office followed the sending of a number of papers to him by Kawsu Ceesay, including a letter of memorandum, purportedly signed by him (Ndondi Njie). He said the letter outlined instructions to the Finance Department of the IEC to effect payment for the amount stated on the copy of the firm orders. “I immediately went through the document and I realised that Code Incorporated Company was claiming for a breach of contract and further sent a notice to my successor, Mustapha L Carayol, informing him that there was no legal construct that existed between the IEC and the said Canadian company,” Mr Njie explained.

During cross examination by Defence Counsel Batchilly, the former IEC boss said, his termination letter did not indicated any reason for his removal from the office.

Earlier on, Mr Ceesay pleaded not guilty on the charge levelled against him. The trial continues on March 14. The state was represented by Lawyer MA Omar and Merley Wood.