Former Inspector General of Police Ensa Jesus Badjie has been accused of threatening to demote police officers who didn’t show loyalty to Jammeh during his infamous campaign against “witches and sorcerers” in 2009.

Mustapha Ceesay, a former police officer and victim of Jammeh’s witch-hunt, told the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) on Tuesday.

The former policeman said ex-IGP Ensa Jesus Badjie informed them at a parade in Kanilai that former president Yahya Jammeh had sent witch doctors to screen officers who were “witches and that anyone who is found to be a witch will be given something to drink and the person will die”.

He said alleged “witches” were forced to drink concoction from the so-called witch doctors.

In 2009, former President Yahya Jammeh launched a nationwide witch-hunt campaign. Witch doctors supported by armed military men raided communities and public offices in search of so-called “witches and sorcerers” after the death of Jammeh’s aunt.

The witch hunt targeted the poor, elderly farmers and vulnerable people who were often pressurised to confess to murders by sorcery.

“I came to understand that President Jammeh brought these witch doctors from Guinea Conakry after the death of his aunty and two of his protocol officers – Musa Jammeh and Tumul Tamba,” Mr Ceesay told the Commission.

TRRC on Monday started its tenth session of public hearings which is dedicated on Jammeh’s witch-hunt in 2009, and testimonies are expected to be heard from the victims and affected communities.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba