Chief Superintendent Lamin S Ndong, Handwriting Expert of the Gambia Police Force, on Tuesday, continues his testimony in a cross-examination in the D6 million forgery case, involving Kawsu Ceesay, former Chief Electoral Officer of the Independent Electoral Commission.

Appearing before Magistrate Baboucarr Secka of the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court, Chief Supt Ndong said he completed two years course in Nigeria, where he obtained Handwriting Experts Certificate.
Responding to questions by Lawyer Musa Batchilly, Counsel for the accused, Chief Supt Ndong, who claimed to have been an expert since 1991, also told the court that he obtained specimen signatures of former IEC Chairman Mr. Ndondi Njie and did recognise the document which was earlier marked in court as an exhibit.

Asked about the specimen signature sent to him by the NIA, Chief Supt Ndong pointed out that no specimen was sent to him, adding that he has no knowledge of any specimen sent to the IGP. He added that he was not aware of any letter attached to specimen signature obtained from Ndondi Njie.
However, Ndong who appeared as the sixth prosecution witness maintained that the document sent to him for verification and examination was the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from IEC and the Code Incorporated invoice. He told the court that he concentrated on the comparisons of these documents in his examination and verification.

According to him, he used the “form factor, movement factor, alignment factor, slant factor and slope factor” to reach at a conclusion.
He then added: “I did not ask Mr. Ndondi Njie to bring any other signature he has signed because I believe in this specimen. And during my examination, Mr. Njie did not tell me he has lower case letter “n” in his signature to mean Njie,” he told the court, when asked by the Defence Counsel Batchilly.
The sixth prosecution witness said all specimens he took are the same, adding that the “important material element” that he was looking for was found in all the signatures.
Asked whether he can identify the specimen signature among others, Chief Supt Ndong insisted he needed ample time to examine as he will need other materials, such as lens and a magnifier glass.

At that Juncture, Lawyer Batchilly applied for the court to make an order, directing him to compare and examine the previous exhibits Chief Supt Ndong examined against the specimen he obtained from Mr. Ndondi Njie.
This was then granted by the presiding Magistrate Secka. The case continues on July 3.