Senior Magistrate Abdoulie Mbackeh of the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court on 29th November 2007 defended a court process server when one Buba Silla, the plaintiff, told the court that the defendant, Salim Keita, had acted rudely towards the process server when the latter took a writ of summons to the defendant. The plaintiff however countered that the defendant insulted him. The defendant denied it.

In his intervention, Magistrate Mbackeh asked the process server whether what the plaintiff said about his encounter with the defendant was true and the process server confirmed it.

Magistrate Mbackeh at that point expressed his displeasure with the defendant, admonishing him that the process server was only on an official mission to issue him summons. He went on to say that the process server was not a party to the case between the plaintiff and the defendant, noting that the defendant ought only to receive the summons from the process server and go to court to defend himself.

He finally indicated that he would never tolerate litigants being rude to process servers, saying that he could have sent the defendant to prison for two weeks for his misbehaviour. He warned him not to repeat the act again.