The prolonged trial of Kemo Saho of Farato village resumed on 8th September 2008 at the Brikama Magistrates’ Court before Magistrate John Njie.

However the case which was scheduled for continuation could not proceed as the accused who is a prison inmate was not brought to court.

It could be recalled that the accused was alleged to have assaulted one Samba Bah by hitting him with an animal horn. The accused who is serving two years jail terms also earlier on had assaulted the same complainant.

In a separate development the trial of one Mass Jeng ex- customs officer could not proceed at the Brikama Magistrates’ Court as the defence counsel was absent in court.

Mr Jeng is standing trial on two counts of Economic Crime and one count of stealing. He was alleged to have stolen the sum of D2M while being posted as head of the Giborro Customs post. He denied the charge.

The case was adjourned to 23rd September 2008.

One Babucarr Sallah of Farato was on Monday arraigned before Magistrate John Nije of the Brikama Magistrates’ Court on counts of criminal tresspass and assault. He denied the charges.

The complainer, Fatou Kambai, in her testimony told the court that the accused went to her compound asking for the landlord and was informed that the landlord was out of the compound and thereafter the accused left the compound.

She further told the court that the accused later returned and asked her why she refused to answer when he called her and thereafter the accused hit her with a pestle on her face.

Kemo Saho of Farato village in Kombo South was recently taken back to the State Central Prison in Banjul following the failure of his counsel to show up in court.

Kemo Saho is undergoing trial at the Brikama Magistrates’ Court for violently assaulting an imam of one of the mosques in Farato. His case was supposed to proceed sometime last week but was stalled due largely to the inability of defence counsel Edu Gomez to make it to court. The case is now expected to continue on 10 July 2008.

Kemo Saho is in the meantime accused of stabbing Imam Samba Bah with an animal horn thereby causing him actual bodily harm.

In another development, Lawyer Edu Gomez’s inability to make it to the court was also last week a stumbling block to the progress of the trial of a certain Mustapha Camara.

Mustapha is being charged with an alleged offence of attempting to commit murder contrary to section 200 of the Criminal Code, Cap.10,Vol. III of the Laws of The Gambia.

The case is now expected to continue on 10 July.

After playing in a well-contested semi-final over the weekend, Farato and Kartong will meet in the final of the Kombo South Peace tournament.

Farato was the first team to book a ticket to the final. They battled for a 2-1 win over Sifoe on Friday at the Sanyang football pitch.

Alhagie Bah put Farato in the lead in the 31st minute of the first half. In the 70th minute Farato’s Ebrima Bah netted the wining goal.

Sifoe who fed on crumbs of possession, managed to fight back and Essa Sambou in the 83rd minute scored a consolation goal for the team.

Kartong FC played the second semi-final with Sanyang on Sunday at the Sifoe Football field. They made it to the final by beating Sanyang 2-0.

In a letter dated 5thJune 2008, made available to this paper, the five, Ousman Foon, Samba Jallow, Ansu Dibba, Brikama Drammeh and Saloum Baldeh, claim that the Ahmadiyya authorities have encroached on a piece of land they had legally acquired. They alleged that the Ahmadiyya people made a serious extension on the piece of land sold to them by one Abu Denden Njie in 2001, thus trespassing into their land.

According to them, the matter had reached the office of the then Commissioner of Western Division who ordered the Ahmadiyya people to immediately cease occupation of the area in question, and advised the five to carry on whatever development they might have planned. But the Ahmadiyya people refused to honour the Commissioner’s decision, and have since been doing everything possible to take ownership of the said piece of land.

“Sir, these Ahmadiyaa people are potential architects of danger and unless something is done to prevent the possibility of an unfortunate situation, there is always room for danger in the near future.

“This time around if they strike on us we would also strike back. We are prepared to withstand their threat anytime, anyhow although our actions could only come to surface only when the relevant authorities fail the endeavour to bring to a halt the advances of the Ahmadiyya people on our piece of land,” they stated.

Sana Jawo, the Alkalo of Farato village in Kombo South, has been ordered to pay D18,000 to one Mam Jara in a fortnight's time.

The same order was also issued to Momodou Suwareh, a police officer attached to Banjul police station.

The duo was also ordered to pay interest on the sum and court costs.

The order was in respect of a civil suit filed by Mama Jara against the Alkalo and one Momodou Suwareh in conection with a land dispute.

Mrs Jara was claiming from the two the sum of D17, 000 being the amount she paid for a piece of land and D1, 000 for the cost of paper transction.

She had earlier on informed the court that it was sometime ago when she approached the Alkalo on the issue of land. "He later directed me to Momodou Suwareh whom, he said, had a piece of land for sale. I met Suwareh and upon discussion, we agreed on D17, 000 for the land. I paid the money through the Alkalo but several demands to get my land or money back proved futile," she recounted.

Kemo, earlier convicted and sentenced to serve a four-year jail term for assaulting an Imam of one of the mosques in Farato, is now charged with assault, occasioning actual bodily harm. He is alleged to have stabbed the same Imam with an animal horn; charge he denied.

His case was supposed to proceed on Wednesday but could not as Magistrate John Njie was not in court even though the accused and the prosecutor were present.

Kemo Saho was in the meantime returned to the State Central Prison, pending the resumption of his case on May 13.

Saho, who was earlier convicted and sentenced by the Brikama Magistrates’ Court to serve a jail term for assaulting the same Imam, is now being tried for assault, occasioning actual bodily harm. He was charged with assaulting Imam Samba Bah with an animal horn thereby causing him actual bodily harm.

His case was supposed to proceed before magistrate John Njie on Thursday but was delayed when the prosecuting officer, 1320 Bojang, informed the court that the prosecution was not in the knowledge that the case was billed to continue on Thursday.