“Do what is right, fear nobody”, urged President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, as the justices of the Supreme Court of The Gambia gathered in the Cabinet Room of State House to swear-in two new justices.

The Chief Justice Abdou Karim Savage, led the delegation of five judges and the master of the High Court, Mrs Amina Saho-Ceesay to State House. The judges were Justice Gibril Semega-Janneh, Hon Justice Imambilima, Justice Jones Dotse, Justice Niki Jobi from Nigeria, and Justice Akomaye Agim.

The occasion, which was chaired by Mrs Teneng Mba Jaiteh, the Secretary to the Cabinet, was also attended by SoS Yankuba Touray, who gave a short speech thanking the judges from various African countries for taking up the challenge and promised them a conductive atmosphere to do their job.

The two new judges, Dotse and Tobi, took the oath of allegiance to The Gambia, the oath of secrecy and the oath to do their job without fear or favour.

President Jammeh assured them of independence, saying “if a president intervenes in justice, anarchy will prevail. We will not do that”.

Following in on SoS Touray’s comments, the president stated that his government established the Supreme Court so that Gambians can have recourse to the highest court in their own country without the need to go to the Privy Council in England.

“This is what African unity is about,” said the president, “You are here on the ground helping us and we are grateful. Unity is not about building a home with the roof. We should start with the foundation first.”

“I am independent to the core,” concluded the president while graciously thanking the gathered judges from the African countries.

An appreciative Chief Justice Savage thanked the president for his support for the judiciary. The chief justice added that he hopes the Supreme Court will be able to sit quarterly in the near future with the support of The Gambia government and others.

The chief justice thanked the brother justices gathered from various African countries and joked that there is much in store for the Ghanaian Justice Dotse - as the current Chief Justice of Ghana was formerly serving on the Gambian bench.

Also present were SoS Ismaila Sambou, SoS Mass Axi Gye and SoS Neneh Macdouall-Gaye.