Even without thinking, the antidevelopmental processes in our this little
land are just mind-buggling. Just last week, I thought I saw Malafy
Jarjue's software fingers manipulating the firing and hiring of
commissioners as if to cut an paste snippets of bug-infested code. Added
to that, like you, I am still to lurch from the psychological haze
administered from a newspaper editiorial (Principles Out, Hypocrisy In)
more sobering and radical than the nation's most acidic politicians. And
now this! Americans running our ministries!? Not even in Iraq, I am told,
has that happened!

Sidibeh



-----Original Message-----
From: Wallymang Sanneh <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 10:23:52 -0700
Subject: People with Dual citizeship holding secretary of state positions

> Culled from Observer
>
> On secretaries of state
> By
> May 17, 2004, 16:28
>
> Email this article
>  Printer friendly page
> The Gambia Bar Association was recently placed in the difficult
> position of challenging the constitutionality of Justice Gibou Janneh’s
> appointment as acting chief justice of The Gambia. As usual, the
> government stays mute on the matter, thereby adding another chapter to
> its insatiable propensity to disobey the law.
>
> The incredible reality is that, Justice Janneh’s situation is by no
> means unique. There are two serving secretaries of state whose
> appointments - if indeed the mounting allegations about their
> nationality are accurate - are prohibited by the 1997 Constitution.
>
> From the Ramzia Diab affair to Justice Janneh controversy, The Gambia
> has entered an unheralded season for constitutional exposition over
> presidential hiring and firing. In extremely clear terms, section 71(2)
> of the Constitution, dictates that "a person shall not be qualified to
> be appointed or to hold the office of Secretary of State if . . . he or
> she holds the citizenship or nationality of any country other than The
> Gambia." Of particular significance is the fact that the President has
> absolutely no manoeuvring ground in as far as the constitutional
> command on this vital matter is couched in imperative terms.
> There is evidence to suggest that Manlafi Jarjue, secretary of state
> for Local Government and Lands, and the recently appointed Amadou
> Scattred Janneh, secretary of state for Communication, Information and
> Technology, are both American citizens. One would have expected the
> President to exercise due diligence and have that critical possibility
> checked in light of the fact that both secretaries of state spent long
> years in the US and are able to travel freely to and from that country.
> How such major appointments could be made without even passing a check
> on whether the Constitution is negatively engaged, is clearly beyond
> comprehension. The President’s handling of appointments, shouting for
> some form of prior investigation - and without undertaking any -
> trivialises the process of governance in The Gambia.
>
> I am willing to concede the possibility of inadvertent constitutional
> violation in these cases but President Jammeh must now undertake a
> thorough investigation of these allegations and issue a formal
> statement of all factual findings if he intends to maintain the
> appointments. If the findings are that prior to their appointments, the
> two secretaries of state had formally renounced US citizenship and
> handed back their passports to the US Department of State, or that they
> are mere permanent residents of that country, those findings ought to
> properly constitute an end to the scandalous matter. If the former, the
> President must publish the times of formal renunciation of US
> citizenship and what practical steps were taken to give those acts
> binding legal effect.
>
> Should the President require direction in resolving this matter,
> available options include: a formal diplomatic request to the US
> government for confirmation through its embassy in The Gambia about the
> citizenship status of the two secretaries of state; a confidential
> background check (with subjects’ permission) utilising the
> all-encompassing and unique social security numbers assigned to each
> secretary of state during his years in the US; surrendering for
> examination the travel document used by each secretary of state on his
> last journey to The Gambia immediately preceding appointment; or a
> formal declaration by each secretary of state directly addressing the
> issue of whether they have dual nationality.
>
> If these very credible allegations are confirmed, the illegal cabinet
> appointments at issue must be immediately revoked pursuant to the
> violation of section 71(2) of the Constitution and in line with the
> President’s obligation under section 61(2) to "uphold and defend this
> Constitution as the supreme law of The Gambia".
>
> President Jammeh took an oath for the due execution of the Office of
> the President. A glaring disregard to the Constitution is clearly not
> the best exemplar of the presidential oath of office. Mr Jarjue, and Mr
> Scattred Janneh, must have their appointments as secretaries of state
> revoked in line with the clear command of the Constitution.
> Regardless of whether the appointments were deliberate or inadvertent,
> there is not a scintilla of justification for the President to continue
> his countenance of two major violations of the supreme law of our land.
> He must resist making a profession out of violating the Constitution,
> and then to either punish or ignore his critics for highlighting his
> persistent abuse of authority. The President must obey the Constitution
> and revoke these illegal appointments in so far as they constitute
> major violations of the supreme law of The Gambia.
>
> In the sycophantic and unprincipled atmosphere of Gambian politics,
> there are countless other so-called intellectuals anxiously salivating
> for an invitation to serve their nation in the cabinet. The President
> has ample opportunity to extricate himself from the blatant illegality
> integral to these appointments. The constitutional requirements on the
> issue cannot be clearer. There is no argument that the constitution
> preclude the appointees from simultaneously retaining their global
> insurance policy of American citizenship, and serving as Gambian
> secretaries of state. The two Gambian-Americans, or American-Gambians –
> however they refer to themselves – must be expunged from the ranks of
> The Gambia’s secretaries of state without another day’s delay.
>
> If the President requires further amplification of the grave
> consequences attendant to his violation of the Constitution, I urge him
> to consult his chief legal adviser, the attorney-general and secretary
> of state for Justice, Sheikh Tijan Hydara. Although clearly out of his
> depth in his analysis and conclusions on the Ramzia Diab affair, the
> law in the instant case is fairly straightforward.
>
> In any case, I refer the secretary for Justice to sections 4, 5, 6, 61,
> and 67, of the Constitution for the consequences of failure by the
> President to obey the supreme law of The Gambia and revoke the
> appointments of the two Secretaries.
>
> Lamin J Darbo
> Barrister, solicitor
> Supreme Court of The Gambia
>
>
>
> © Copyright 2003 by Observer Company
>
>
> Yaya should not get away with this.  If Yaya fails to act I suggest the
> opposition file a lawsuit against the government.
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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