MEDIA ADVISORY
On the evening of Thursday, November 21, the last day of the TRRC’s public hearings on the witch hunt in Jambur, some Commissioners and staff of the Commission paid an impromptu visit to a nearby bridge where the charred remains of murdered former AFPRC Finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay were found on the morning of June 22, 1995.
The unplanned visit by the TRRC team including the chair, the deputy chair and other Commissioners and staff came at the end of a four-day week of public hearings on the experiences of witch hunt victims in the villages of Jambur, Makumbaya and Galoyaa. The Commission thought it fit to take advantage of Jambur’s proximity to the site to conduct a brief, unplanned visit.
While circumstances surrounding the murder of the former finance minister remain unclear, several witnesses appearing before the Commission as well as news reports from June 1995 confirm that Koro Ceesay’s charred remains were found in his car on that bridge, just about a hundred meters from the Jambur junction. The TRRC is continuing investigations into Koro Ceesay’s murder and the Commission expects to hear more testimonies on the case in 2020.
The TRRC encourages anyone who has any useful knowledge or information related to the murder of Ousman Koro Ceesay to please reach out and help the Commission, Koro’s family, and the Gambian people get to the bottom of this tragic incident. Witnesses are assured total confidentiality and their identities may only be disclosed if they so wish. Witnesses with such information need not testify – either publicly or in camera – and will not be asked to testify unless they express a desire to do so. Witness protection services will also be available for those who would need it.
