Darboe On Cheyassin's Dismissal, By-Elections

Daily Observer
February 1, 2001
Posted to the web February 1, 2001

Banjul

The main opposition UDP leader, Ousainou Darboe, has said that the
removal of the attorney general and Justice secretary, Pap Cheyassin
Secka from office Tuesday was "long overdue" because public
confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary has eroded during his
tenure of office.

Speaking to me in Banjul yesterday, Mr. Darboe said, "He should have
been removed from the post because there has been a lot of
interference in the judiciary. He has been advising the government on
various legal matters, but one thing that is clear is that when he
became the attorney general and Justice secretary, some of us started
losing confidence because of his removal of magistrates and judicial
officers. Certainly, there was no proper administration of justice."

Mr. Darboe said government should have removed Mr. Secka much earlier
when they felt he was putting the government on an unconstitutional
track.

"He tried to justify the removal of the IEC chairman, Bishop S Tilewa
Johnson, and in my view, he single-handedly interfered with the
findings of the April 10 and 11 commission of inquiry which I think
was wrong," Mr. Darboe claimed.

Reacting to the personal appearance of Mr. Secka, his former friend,
in the murder trial involving him and his party supporters, Mr.
Darboe said, "As attorney general he had every right to come and
represent government in any case that government has interest in and
I certainly expect any attorney general to do his job according to
his knowledge of the law. I want to clear the air that I hold nothing
against him for doing that, although I must say that there were
political motivations and it was not only that particular alleged
murder case that was brought before the High Court during his term of
office... Serious constitutional issues have been raised in the high
and supreme courts, one would have expected Pap Cheyassin to appear
and make addresses before coming to my case."

By-election; Mr. Darboe also denied allegations that his party
intended to boycott the by-elections in Baddibu Central and Kiang
East slated for March 31.

"The UDP is not boycotting any elections as the two seats belong to
us. They are our seats and we are going to take them. Why should we
boycott by-elections in constituencies where we had a sitting member
of National Assembly. We are not going to boycott it in any way. We
are even more prepared for presidential elections even if they should
be held today. We are ready for any election."

Confidence in IEC; Asked if the UDP has confidence in the IEC
recommending that counting of the by-election votes be done at
divisional headquarters rather than at the polling stations as had
been the case at the Sami chieftaincy election, Mr. Darboe said, "We
do not think Gabriel Roberts is prepared to play the game according
to the rules. After Sami elections, the IEC announced that all other
vote countings will be done at respective polling stations, so now,
what is stopping Roberts from continuing the process? We have already
said that Mr. Roberts as the chairman of the IEC plays into the hands
of the ruling party and this what he has started showing. There is
absolutely no justification for him to deviate from the procedure
laid down by the IEC, when it still the same commission. People might
have changed but the IEC is still there and that commission said the
counting of votes will take place at the polling stations, so why is
he denying that?"

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