Dr Bamba Banja, a former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries, has denied three counts of corruption charges brought against him at the High Court on Wednesday.

Dr Banja faces charges bordering on economic crimes and official corruption. He pleaded not guilty on all counts.

The former permanent secretary, who appeared before Justice Bakre, was remanded pending his formal bail application which his lawyer promised to file on October 15. The case is adjourned to October 20.

Dr Banja was accused of collecting bribes from officials of a Chinese fish meal company, Golden Lead. Golden Lead operates Gambia’s biggest fish meal factory on the shores of Gunjur, Kombo South.

In 2018, the Gambian navy arrested 2 fishing trawlers the Company used to operate to get a steady supply of fish to their factory.

A day before the consultative committee, an out-of-court mechanism hosted by the Fisheries Ministry, sat over the case, Dr Banja allegedly collected bribe from the company to lessen their fines.

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The charges he faces are ‘public officer receiving property’, ‘economic crimes’ and ‘official corruption.