Bala Garba Jahumpa, Batata Juwara, Bai Ousman Secka and Tijan Bah in Police Net

A reliable source has revealed to this paper on condition of anonymity that Messrs. Bala Garba Jahumpa, alias Action Man, the former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and now Ambassador-designate to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; Batata Juwara, Director of Protocol, office of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Bai Ousman Secka, PS No.2 at the Department of State for Foreign Affairs and Tijan Bah, deputy PS Foreign Affairs, were on Wednesday afternoon after working hours invited for questioning  at the Serious Crimes unit of the Police Headquarters in Banjul.

According to our source, the four are being questioned in connection with the discovery of visa and passport scam at the Department of State for Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Bala Garba Jahumpa was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from October 2006 to August 2007 when he was relieved of the post following a cabinet reshuffle by the President in September. He was thereafter appointed first Gambian Ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Batata Juwara served as Commissioner of North Bank Division (now North Bank Region) before being appointed Director of Protocol at the Foreign Affairs Department.

In a related development Messrs Bai Ousman Secka, PS number 2 Foreign Affairs, and Lamin Nyabally, PS State Department of Works, Construction and Infrastructure have their services terminated with immediate effect.