(JollofNews) – President Yahya Jammeh’s hopes of using the supreme court to void last month’s election results Tuesday suffered a major setback after his foreign hired judges failed to show up.
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.
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 later 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 has not been properly constituted since May 2015 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. But following his surprised election defeat, Mr Jammeh hurriedly appointed some judges from Nigeria and Sierra Leone to hear his petition.
In an unexpected twist, non of the newly hired judges were in court this morning to hear the case apart from Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle.
Addressing Mr Jammeh’s attorney, Edward Gomez and supporters, Justice Fagbenle said the new judges have not arrived in the country and as result he will not be able to legally hear the case on his own.
“This election petition can only be heard by a panel of supreme court justices,” he said. I am adjourning it until next Monday but do not expect me to change my stand that I cannot hear the case on my own without a full supreme court panel.”
Justice Fagbenle added that he has been informed that the supreme court may not be properly constituted until May 2016.
He suggested to a disappointed Lawyer Gomez, to advice his clients to go for mediation as recommended by the regional group Ecowas, in order to peaceful resolve the political standoff.
Reacting to the judge’s decision, Lawyer Gomez said he was disappointed and President Jammeh will continue to pursue his constitutional right to challenge the election results.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Mr Jammeh’s supporters have held a peaceful protest outside the court asking neighbouring countries especially Senegal not to interfere in the country’s domestic affairs.
The supporters including security officers who were wearing green APRC t-shirts later marched from Independence Drive to the State House, where they are expected to meet with Mr Jammeh and assure him of their cntinuous support.
Thank God that his hearing surfers a setback, thank God the voices if the Gambians must be heard #Gambians have decided
hehe what a laugh….. jammeh has become a joke. even the judges have realised that his end has come and have refused to toe to his line. let’s see what he will do now….he’ll have no option left if the supreme does not hear his case. Jammeh ITS TIME TO GO!!
It’s unfortunate that in this day and age people like you still exist – People who use their emotions rather than rationale to make sound judgements! Please refrain from using tribal sentiments to put your points across. Gone are those days now. Politicians should use their positions and influences to ensure that we live peacefully in The Gambia as one people with a common aim of building a progressive nation. They can do this by marketing to us sound and implementable policies that we could buy or reject using our ballot tokens! Fuelling tribal conflict will bring nothing but isolation, chaos, violence and total backwardness to a country that you, Jammeh, Barrow, I and the rest of the Gambians love and call home!
one gambia one people, all we kno is peace datz y they call us da smiling coast,may Allah protect da peace we kno
To XXXXX… You are so lost. Remember Allah is here for all. He is most just of all judges. And he knows everything. This is a lesson to show Yaya that he is nothing but a mortal and one day he shall meet his maker like anyone else. Yaya started the insults and threatened to kill Mandinkas. Where were u then.
To Allah we trust and to him we seek refuge.
I’m a Ghanaian but I’m so concerned about what is happening in Gambia that not a day passes without me checking out what’s going on. I hate despotic rulers. Jammeh, are you telling us that without you Gambia can’t be ruled by anyone else? You cannot win always. After 22 years time is over for you. Don’t be greedy. Remember what became the plight of Gbagbo, Gaddafi……..and never attempt to play the tribal card…leave Gambia intact as you came to take with guns from Dawda Jawara
A week ago I was hoping yaya is going to redeem himself by coming on the TV to tell Gambian’s he was having a day dream a kind of nightmare. I was wrong this guy don’t love Gambian’s or care about them. Any human being in there right mind should have seen the signals by now, Gambian’s want change something they had been yawning for two decade. My message to him is this, is not too late to do the right thing for the sake of humanity. Our economy is on a cliff edge, tourism is been affected and lots of other things. You can stop all this in a day don’t let your pride destroy our motherland. You yourself yaya must be suffering probably not getting enough sleep, this is going to cause you erratic behaviour. Sleep depravation can cause bad judgement and possibly hallucination. Your next in command should take command and arrest you to save yourself and Gambian’s from possible disturbances in our motherland.
I also check every day although am not a Gambian, I hate sore looser, bully’s and greedy people and that is what he is, he has taken so much from the people and the country what more does he want, OK he want blood I think he has shed enough blood in the pass and it’s time to stop. If its blood he want why doesn’t he do eveyone a favour and slash his wrisrs and sit and watch blood flow in the hot sun it won’t be long before it stop and all his problem too no more court case, no one in his way and he can be ruler in the next world. Leave it in peace and peace will be with him.
Every bodies trying to make sense out of this even the judge, but still the man at the top in Gambia did not get it.
Jammeh has blown his golden opportunities over time, once you concede the wave of the opportunities started flowing in, lnstead he turned around and blow it daylight. Look at all these mess now.
jammeh your support don’t like you to be honest to Allah because they know that there is no possibility for you to be a president in this country again hence you said Allah decided and follow, so please step down peaceful
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
Yayah Jammeh has a jammed mental political frequency. Despots are always full of themself and end up in the grave with the corpse just like the proverbial housefly. My prayer is that Gambians be wiser not to be taken along by this man on a suicide mission. Even the so-called military will drop this excess baggage when the heat is turned on. Gambia is strategically disadvantaged by its geographical location.
I am a Kenyan with post-election violence experience and I can only speculate where Jammeh is leading the country to, God forbid! The predisposing standoff deserves divine intervention. Why is Jammeh waiting for a disgracious exit whereas he had options? The constitution, to the best of my understanding allows the rightfully declared winner by the IEC to be sworn in after the expiry of the incumbent’s time as the disgruntled candidate(s) file their petition. If the verdict favours them, the speaker takes the Presidency in an acting capacity and calls for a fresh election within 60 days. Unless he allows the constitution to follow it’s due course, Jammeh will follow his disgraced African counterparts’ path as the international community cannot stomach a deliberate crisis and/ or bloodshed in what is in black and white. No rocket science is required to interprete Jammeh’s ignorance.
Former President Jammeh,thank you for all the visions achieved or not,but kindly excuse us President-elect Adama Barrow has extended an invitation for you to attend his inaugration on the 19th January,2017,we hope to see you there.Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Traitors behave just like how Sheriff Bojang and Alieu K Jammeh 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
Bit by bit, all of you genocidal demons with beastly plans of mass murder of innocent Gambian children and women, hiding under the entitlement of GAMBIAN, will surely be arrested by interpol to face justice. There is a ‘true you’ of you guys hence a common say, no one can runaway from him/herself. As far as your persons exist and your evil intentions with it, all you ravens of the emergent secret society in the Gambia will be rightly caged.
Pagans, hypocrites and sycophants love writing the names of human beings in sentences and verses. All of your type are bandits around a country’s state of affairs with the help of the country arms and some lesser-minded militia men. The uncontrol use of herbal medicine, herbal intoxicants and the indiscriminate consumption of wildlife species can result to serious mental conditions of those affected by the practice. This is why the UTG has a lot to do in the future because a university or a hospital can’t simply be represented by a building but also the right equipment and human resource.
Hello Fellow Gambians,
I, Adama Barrow Independent Candidate representing the Coalition of eight parties hereby declare that the planned innaugration schuled for 19th January be postponed until when the ruling can be made on Petition filed by the APRC Party.
The reason is, i want to go into office with a clean sheet. If i had known that the self exiled Gambians in the Diaspora had bribed the corrupt IEC Chairman Alieu Momar Njie before December 1st election i would have withdrawn my candidature. Democracy is not about cheating its all about being clean and to clean the mess other people left. On that note i am declaring the scheduled innaugration be halted until further notice. No urge for ascending to the presidency when the peace and tranquility of our beloved Gambia can be endangered.
Many thanks for your cooperarion.
Yours
ADAMA BARROW
Candidate Independent Coalition.
I would say talking of demons is a difficult stand because DEMONS are dangerous. Hypocrisy is the demon’s poisonous art. So I say SUBHAANALLAH. The devil in demons will creep in the shadow of the dark of the dark to build NOT but but destroy what is built. May Allah(SWT) guide us all with his light away frm the creepy demons.
Thanks to jollofnews and all the rest of online medias for the common cause of Gambians that has hoisted a slogan ”#GambiaHasDecided”high up not on Gambia’s alone, but billboards abroad.
I think for someone like you, now is the time to undersand what, ‘freedom of speech’, implies in a democracy and the rule of law of a civil society. What jollofnews is doing by publishing your heap of crap, is what I would refer to as their good sense of professionalism, in upholding right to the freedom of expression of mind. An unprofessional type like myself would have demanded you prove that you are Adama Barrow, the president-elect before I would publish what I have already referred to as ‘a heap of crap’. Insh’Allah/Godwilling(SWT) blessed will be the statesmen and women of the historic opposition coalition and the Gambian people,#the GambiaHasDecided.