The Gambian leader, Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, has once again reiterated his call for effective and sound dispensation of justice in the judicial sector of The Gambia, with a view to giving room for the promotion of the rule of law in the country.

President Jammeh stressed that in the absence of the rule of law and existence of apathy towards a judicial system, efforts at maintaining peace and stability will be an uphill task. The Gambian leader made this call, yesterday, during the swearing-in ceremony of another Gambian High Court judge, Moses Richards, and the new director of public prosecution, Mr Change Nevkaa Richard, at State House.

Professor Jammeh noted that the inefficient dispensation of justice in the court of law leaves much to be desired, citing unnecessary adjournments and backlog of cases in court. “It has become a phenomenon where the defence plays ‘cat and mouse’ in justice.  They know that they are limited by their own human resources and take too many cases than they can handle. And all they do in a day is to go from one court to another only to ask for adjournments. This is unacceptable and the practice must stop, President Jammeh stressed, and continued, ‘I have seen instances where magistrates and judges had threatened to set the criminal free because the prosecution failed to attend once or twice.  But we have never seen instances where the defence is called to order.”

In most cases, Professor Jammeh added, one would find the court more lenient to the defence than the state, an issue he described as unacceptable.  “It is not the defence who pays you, but it is the state that pays you on behalf of the Gambian people whom you owed an obligation to make sure that justice is done, he emphasized.

The President went on to say that it is only in The Gambia where murder cases are dragged in court for years. “These are capital offences and they should be dealt with expediously because human life is involved. These are the type of cases where there is likelihood that the relatives of the victims could take law into their own hands because of emotions attached to the offence”, he said, and went on, “Here in The Gambia, judges deliberately sit on these cases and drag them until their term get expired, and then passed them to other people.  This is unacceptable.  

The maximum period for a murder case to stay in the court of law should be two months.  But here, it is years. Eventually, the severity of the case is watered down to a point where one person will decide to let the criminal go.”

The Gambian leader then went on to raise concern about kidnapping in the country, which he said is an offence that fell under the anti-terrorism act.  He noted that apart from one case of kidnapping that was dealt with expediously in the court of law, other cases of kidnapping are still lingering in the court. He expounded that failure to deal with them will serve as an encouragement, pointing to the recent case of kidnapping.

President Jammeh called for a change for this undesirable attitude in the judiciary, reiterating that the more cases are adjourned unnecessarily, the more complicated the system becomes. Calling for improvement in the judicial sector, President Jammeh noted that the sector must deliver and solve the country’s problem as the government has helped them enough to effectively carry out their functions. The Gambian leader then commended the two for their courage in accepting such a challenge.

While praising Moses Richards for making a name for himself in the country by being steadfast and ensuring that justice is done, Professor Jammeh expressed gratitude to the government of Nigeria for their support to The Gambia’s judicial sector over the years. Speaking earlier, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, vice president and secretary of state for Women’s Affairs, commended the two for accepting such a “challenging judicial position.”

While joining the Gambian leader in commending the government of Nigeria for their support, VP Njie-Saidy also assured the two of government’s continued support.  She expressed hope that the issue of criminality will be addressed, with all hands on deck. The Chief Justice of The Gambia, Abdou Karim Savage, saluted the Gambian leader for his immense support to the judicial sector.

CJ Karim noted that his sector is poised to complement government’s effort and that as such the sector will not be left behind in this rapid socio-economic development trend of the country. He outlined their developments, among them, he said, is the step they have taken in creating a special criminal court, which will deal with capital offences such as murder, manslaughter, rape and other related cases. He also told the Gambian leader about the establishment of the Alternative Dispute Resolution.  

CJ Karim then assured the president that the sector is going to fight tooth and nail to ensure that justice is done. Change Nevkaa Richard, the newly sworn-in director of public prosecution, hailed the Gambian leader for being an exemplary leader in the whole of Africa. He assured him of their relentless commitment in ensuring that the rule of law prevails.

Other speakers included Yankuba Touray, secretary of state for Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters, who applauded the two for their bold steps in taking up the challenges that lay ahead of them.