More Prison Leakage 63-year-old Man Dies at Mile 2

The circumstances surrounding the death of Pa Lamin Darboe, a native of BaddibuSaliKenni Village in the North Bank Region, were unclear at the time we went to press, as prison authorities could not be reached for comments. 

Reliable sources however confirmed that no post-mortem was conducted on him, as his family was outraged by the Gambia Prisons Service’s delayed notification of the passing away of Pa Darboe.

“He passed away on Saturday [June 16], but we were informed on Monday [June 18],” a family member complained. “When they asked whether we would wish a post-mortem to establish the cause of the death, we told them there was no need.”

Survived by neither a wife nor a child, Pa Lamin Darboe, who was physically challenged - handicapped by leprosy – was interred at Old Jeshwang Cemetery.

He had been under detention since his arrest in January 2011, as he had been alleged to have been in possession of 10 kilograms of an illicit drug, cannabis.

But 63-year-old pleaded not guilty to the drug charges levied against him at the magistrates’ court in Kanifing where he was undergoing trial.

Pa Darboe was not in a good state of health for the past few months, sources revealed.

In fact, according to The Voice Newspaper, two days before Pa Darboe’s death, Magistrate Sheriff Tabally ordered for him to be taken to the hospital for medical examination.

The local newspaper however quoted Kemo Darboe, a younger brother to the deceased, as saying that they could not ascertain whether the prisons complied with the court order.

Meanwhile, Pa Lamin Darboe’s demise came shortly after human rights reports suggest that the conditions of Gambian prisons were inhumane and degrading.

According to an analyst, the tragic development goes to add weight to earlier reports of frequent death of inmates, even though the prisons denied such.