A five-member panel of judges from the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Hassan Jallow, has granted the plaintiffs time to find legal representation for their case.
The plaintiffs are seeking the court’s declaration that the amendment of Section 32 of the Women’s Act of 2010, along with the addition of new Sections 32A and 32B in the Women’s (Amendment) Act, Act Number 11 of 2015, which prohibits female circumcision, is unconstitutional.
They argue that these amendments are inconsistent with Sections 17 (1) and (2), 25 (1)(c), 28 (1) and (2), 32, and 33 (2) and (3) of the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia.
During the court proceedings, Foñi Kansala parliamentarian Almameh Gibba announced his readiness to defend himself, while Yassin Fatty, Nano Jawla, Kaddijatou Jallow, along with representatives from Concerned Citizens, Islamic Enlightenment Society, Women’s Association for Islamic Solidarity, and Gambian Women Are Free to Choose, informed the court that they were in the process of securing legal counsel.
The Supreme Court has allowed them until the next session to obtain a lawyer for their case. The matter has been adjourned to the next session of the court in 2025.
Almameh Gibba, along with seven others, has filed a lawsuit against the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, aiming to decriminalise female circumcision. Previously, on 4 March, 2024, Hon. Almameh Gibba had presented a bill to the National Assembly to repeal the law banning female circumcision in The Gambia, a practice commonly performed for cultural and religious reasons. However, this bill was rejected by the National Assembly on 15 July, 2024, following the Health and Gender Committee’s report. Gibba has now turned to the Supreme Court with the same aim.
The other plaintiffs Yassin Fatty, Nano Jawla, and Kadijatou Jallow, are residents of Kuntaur who were convicted by the Kaur Magistrate’s Court for performing female circumcision.
