By Arret Jatta
The Supreme Court of The Gambia has commenced hearing (in chambers) a constitutional challenge filed by Auditor General Modou Ceesay against the Gambia government.
Ceesay, who was forcefully removed from office in September, is seeking justice and declarations that his removal was unlawful and unconstitutional.
In his “writ submitted to the Supreme Court, Ceesay named Attorney General Dawda A Jallow and Inspector General of Police Seedy Mutarr Touray as defendants.
The State’s legal team was led by Solicitor General Hussain Thomasi, alongside Deputy Director of Civil Litigation, Okeke. Principal State Counsel Wakawa, Senior State Counsel, SL Jobarteh, State Counsel Mariama Ngum and State Counsel F Touray.
Representing Auditor General Ceesay were Counsel Lamin J Darbo, Jarra Jeng and Fatoumatta Bondi.
Demands of the suit
In his suit, Ceesay is requesting the Supreme Court to grant the following declarations:
1. A declaration that his forceful removal by police officers, orchestrated by the defendants, violated specific sections of the 1997 Constitution;
2. A declaration that the defendants’ actions contravened sections of the National Audit Office Act, 2015 and
3. A definitive declaration that his removal from the constitutional office of auditor general was unlawful and is, therefore, null, void, and of no effect.
The case came up for preliminary mention before the Chief Justice Hassan B. Jallow, sitting as a single judge. The court directed the defendants to file their response to Ceesay’s claim within 21 days, while the plaintiff was given 7 days to file a rejoinder, if necessary.
The Supreme Court will issue further directives for the substantive hearing, which is scheduled to take place during the court’s session commencing December 1st to December 12th, 2025.
