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.



---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
SBC Yahoo! - Internet access at a great low price.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~