News, Politics

Gambia’s Supreme Court To Hear Jammeh’s Election Petition

Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle

(JollofNews) – The Supreme Court of the Gambia is Tuesday expected to commence hearing President Yahya Jammeh’s petition against last month’s presidential election results.

The election was called in favour of opposition candidate Adama Barrow who won more than 45% of the vote according to the country’s electoral commission.

But Mr Jammeh has filed a suit at the supreme court asking judges to determine that Adama Barrow was not duly elected or returned as president, and that the said election was void.

He has also asked the court to declare him ‘duly elected’ as president by virtue of the actual votes.

The Gambia’s supreme court was not properly constituted from May 2015 until a week after the election following the unexplained dismissal of two justices by Mr Jammeh. The court has not been able to hold any sitting since then due to the absence of a panel.

Mr Jammeh had initially conceded defeat and praised the country’s electoral system as rigged proof. He changed his mind a week later and declared the results null and void citing huge and unacceptable mistakes by the electoral commission.

He also ordered security forces to take over the headquarters of the electoral commission shortly afterwards.

According to the particulars of the case, which will be heard by a panel of non-Gambian judges appointed by Mr Jammeh (apart from the chief justice) after the election, Mr Jammeh is asking the justices to declare the election invalid because the IEC did not comply with the Elections Act, which seriously affected the credibility of the result.

He said the election was not conducted fairly or in good faith by the IEC, which is the statutory body responsible for the proper conduct of elections in the Gambia .

Mr Jammeh further argued that the IEC had failed to properly collate the election results.

Jammeh is trying to cling to power

He added: “After the closing of voting in the said election, the IEC issued different results for the election on the 2nd December and then on the 5th December 2016. The different results were duly certified by the IEC, which claimed to act under the Elections Act after admitting that there were irregularities in the counting process.”

Mr Jammeh said there was a difference in the two sets of results that were certified by the IEC and even after rectifying the mistake, the final results were not signed by his representative, Seedy S.K. Njie.

He also argued a significant number of his supporters in the Upper River Region were prevented from voting through the intimidation election officials who also turned them away and asked them to go home.

He added that some irregularities in the conduct of voting were  also discovered in certain polling stations in Lower Fulladu West District-Central River Region.

Adama Barrow who is due to be sworn-in on January 19th  has rejected Mr Jammeh’s calls for fresh elections to be held. He said while Mr Jammeh can seek redress at the courts, he does not have any power under the constitution to nullify the results or stop his swearing-in ceremony.

The Gambia Bar Association has also dismissed Mr Jammeh’s petition  arguing that it will be against the principles of natural justice for him to appoint supreme court judges to hear a petition file by him or on his behalf.

The body which represents lawyers in the country said: “That would be tantamount  to one being a judge in ones own course considering that the outgoing president  has already preempted  the outcome of the court process by declaring the outcome of election results as a nullity.”

7 Comments

  1. Jammeh is a coward and bully. He is a killer and thief, what he is not is a fool. He soberly knows his fate if he looses power. Well, he says you eat what you grow and grow what you eat. This is what he grows and that is exactly what he’s gonna eat.

  2. Not withstanding his achievements, its high time Jammeh realises its time to pass on the responsibilities of leadership to another able appointed saint. He won’t last forever on that seat no matter what, so let’s experience another ruler and make comparisons. Times changes … he wasn’t expecting to loss the elections neither Barrow was expecting to win but its the will of the Gambia people guided by Allah.

  3. Traitors behave just like how Sheriff Bojang and others do.

    Yahya expect that many of their tribesmen will abandon you, but remain steadfast and reaffirm your position “backward never forward ever. God is ever powerful and Inshallah they will all regret their acts. As the wollof saying goes “Sosseh du sosal ken” they are devillish and only want to see your downfall but they will never live to see that. Note that with their treacherous plans in their defections none will ever survive to see your downfall. It is now clear to you that with all what they were saying in niceties and praise singing they were undermining you just to see your downfall but God the all knowing and everpowerful is and will continue to.protect you from their evil machination. INSHALLAH.

    LONGLIVE YAHYA A.J.J. JAMMEH
    LONGLIVE THE GAMBIA

    • You may be another coward like jammeh, dont use another person name and pretend as if he is the one. Adama barrow wont act like this, if you are in europe or america, or else where you can be charge for misdemeanor high profile person name cannot be used for inciting crimes and violence mind.

    • Go to hell

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  5. I said go to hell

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