Commentary on the News
By Mathew K Jallow
Gambia’s court system is in overdrive. The judiciary is burdened with frivolous cases brought up by the regime, and with corruption so blatantly endemic, the rights to liberty are bought and sold like commodities. Incarceration of human beings has become a mere sport, as magistrates and judges play Russian roulette with peoples lives. It seems the powers that be at the judiciary and in the legal system have no clue that sending anyone to Mile 2 Prison is a potential death sentence. The administration of justice is a sham, a total failure; from the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to the chambers of the so-called Chief Justice. Just last week, according Freedom Newspaper, a man who was condemned to die, was let out of prison to freedom, allegedly after a bribery exchange of money, leaving behind his six co-defendants. In any properly constituted legal system, the verdict against the remaining co-defendants would automatically be reversed, overturned or thrown out, and their released secured by court order. The law ought never to treat defendants differently for fear of losing the legitimacy of impartiality, which is the back-bone of every legal system. But this case is not atypical either; rather, it is the norm. This case, or a combination of such cases, has made the dispensation of justice in our judiciary system a mockery of the laws of every land. Yet this is only a tip of the ice-berg. These legal shenanigans have become inextricable embedded within the fabric of our legal and judiciary systems, where they continue to fester like cancers. Consequently, to take a long view of the law, every case that was adjudicated or tried in any Gambian civilian or military court, and resulted in a conviction, over the past decade and half since Yahya Jammeh came to power, ought to be ruled illegal, and overturned and the victims released in a post Jammeh government.
For a long time now, even the regime has had a sense of uneasiness about the dysfunction of our judiciary, which last week prompted Gambia’s evil grandmother Isatou Njie-Saidy, to reiterate the regime’s commitment to a judiciary unblemished by external interference. Her pronouncement is a tacit, yet veiled acknowledgment of the existence of a chaotic and dysfunctional system, not in pursuit of the truth, but of money and all the corrupting influences that tag to the force of its power. But there is only one problem; she probably forgot that we have heard this song played many times before, in fact, for the fifth time in as many years, and frankly the tune is old, the sound is bad music to the ears, and the lyrics are pregnant with hypocritical disingenuousness. Yahya Jammeh made similar assertion the past five consecutive years, yet nothing has changed; nothing. But perhaps this time there is change in the air, and this whiff of optimism is not pegged on anything either Jammeh or his evil lackey Isatou Njie-saidy have said. In stead, in a rare moment of frankness and display of unambiguousness, the President of The Gambia Bar Association, Lawyer Sheriff Tambedou, came close to demanding job security for legal practitioners; in particular; judges and magistrates who Yahya Jammeh often hires and fires in a huff. The independence of Gambia’s judiciary from unwanted interference and manipulation by Yahya Jammeh is at heart of the matter. Judicial and civil service appointments under Jammeh’s regime are like playing a game of musical chairs. There are instances when appointees to positions are fired within the week of hiring and in many other instances, people were fired a month or two after their appointment. The Attorney General and Minister of Justice portfolio alone had seventy-five appointments under Yahya Jammeh. That is five appointments every year, or a new Attorney General and Minister of Justice every two and half months, a record for any country in the world. But for Mr. Sheriff Tambedou’s demand to have any chance of becoming reality, two things have to happen; either Jammeh voluntarily concedes to The Gambia Bar Association demands, which is unlikely, or the Bar Association, if at all serious about protecting their own civil rights, take a long overdue united front of civil disobedience against Yahya Jammeh’s meddling in judicial affairs. After-all, it is with them that the last hope of the citizens rests; it is to them that the country must look up to for guidance as a last resort; and so far, with everything that has happened in the country, their record has been abysmal, if not a downright dereliction of responsibility to our people.
However, considering that Yahya Jammeh’s coronation as King has the approval of Banjul, it is quite unlikely the Bar Association will have any legal authority left to accomplish their desire for job security and judicial independence. The reason is that last week, in what can only be described as a stunning and jaw-dropping display of stupidity, two National Assembly representatives from Banjul, clown Seedy Njie and buffoon Abdoulie Saine declared that, “as far as Banjul is concerned, we endorse the idea.” The idea in case you wonder, is the coronation of Yahya Jammeh as king of The Gambia. If these are the caliber of representatives The Gambia has as our law-makers, we are doomed to the mediocrity that has ruined every prospect for real social and economic development. And Abdou Jarjue, National Assembly member for Kombo Central, by literally supporting the campaign to coronate Jammeh, has demonstrated being one of his hand-picked dummies, when Yahya Jammeh in one sweep of craziness, fired most of the APRC’s Assembly representatives, including then Majority Leader, Churchill Baldeh, prior to the Assembly elections a few years ago and replaced them with an Assembly class of idiots. One the other hand, Assembly member Hon. Momodou LK Sanneh showed intellectual maturity and leadership in his opposition to such a stupid and infinitely ridiculous idea of a Gambian monarchy under Yahya Jammeh.
But not everyone in the country is a court jester. Like Assembly member Sanneh, Anthony Carvalho, President of Gambia Groundnut Council is the consummate professional, a man of exceptional integrity with a touch of class and sophistication, and a far-cry from my nemesis, Justice Minister Edward Gomez. As head of GCC, Mr. Carvalho has his work cut out for him. The GCC is in need fixing and in the interest of our farmers, hopefully he will be given the opportunity to come through for the country’s farmers. Gambian farmers have suffered to no end over the past several years, which resulted in a mass exodus to the Kombos, causing farming activity in the country to decline significantly. As it is agriculture now represents of 33% of our GDP as opposed to 75% more than a decade ago. Much of the agricultural export earning today derived from commercial farms such as Radville Farms in Nema and others located around the Kombos. Hopefully, Mr. Carvalho will be empowered to investigate cases where farmers produce was purchased on credit basis, but after many years, they still have never been reimbursed for their produce. National Assembly Suku Singateh from the Baddibous, is believed to owe Baddibou farmers 8 (eight) million dalasis in cash, and to Action Aid The Gambia (AATG) who contracted him as a groundnut purchasing agent, 8 million dalasis worth of groundnuts. The plight of our farmers has been ignored for far too long, and with kids to educate and families to feed, Anthony Carvalho is the right person to give remedy and relief to the long suffering farmers. For even the farmers deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. No more, no less.