Dr Alieu Badara Senghore, the principal of the Gambian College, last week testified against two of his former lecturers in the ongoing criminal trial over false information given to State House.

Lamin BT Sanyang and Abdoulie Baldeh had pleaded not guilty to the charge pressed against them and the court has already received evidence from Mrs Isatou Ndow, the head of School of Education.

Also giving his evidence before Magistrate Lamin George, Dr Senghore informed the court that he was appointed to the college in 2004 and his duties as the principal were to ensure that staff and students operate according to the rules and regulations of the college and ensure effective learning, amongst others.

He identified the two accused in the dock as former lecturers at the college and recalled a day when he came across some students, idling outside a classroom, while he was on a routine tour of the school. He said the students told him that they were supposed to have English Language lessons but the lecturer, Lamin BT Sanyang, was absent.

He said he advised the students to return to their classroom and engage themselves in extra class work or go to the library for studies. He said he then went straight ahead to consult the then acting head of the English Department, Mr Sako Sambou, on the matter.
Mr Senghore further recalled receiving a letter of resignation from a Peace Corps volunteer in which the second accused person, Abdoulie Baldeh, was accused of sexual harassment.

Turning back to Lamin Sanyang, the college principal said he remembered receiving a letter from Mrs Isatou Ndow, the head of the School of Education, complaining of the late submission of student grades. Mr Sanyang, he said, was written to and warned to desist from such practices but refused to take heed.

He also recalled receiving another letter from Mrs Ndow, accompanied by a petition from students doing Higher Teacher’s Certificate, that Mr Sanyang had refused to teach them English. He told the court that he personally summoned Mr Sanyang and warned him, but Sanyang responded that he would not teach, because the students doubted his competence.

“I told him that at the Gambian College, we don’t operate like. I told him to continue lecturing and write down his complaints for onward transmission to the College Council for deliberation. A week or two later, I received the same complaint that Mr Sanyang had refused to teach and I wrote to him, indicating that he had failed to adhere to the promise he made in my office,” the principal said.

The letters from the students, the head of the School of Education, a Peace Corps volunteer and from Dr Senghore himself were tendered and marked as exhibits in court.
The case continues on Monday, September 15.