By Omar Bah
The leader of the opposition United Democratic Party UDP, Ousainu Darboe, has said preparations are ongoing for his party to take its case against the appointment of five regional governors and their immediate deputies to the Supreme Court.
The case was struck out last month after the party or its representatives failed to turn up on a scheduled sitting day.
Meanwhile, the governors were redeployed back to their jobs earlier this month.
The UDP had wanted the court to make a declaration that their appointments were unlawful, illegal and therefore null and void. They relied on sections 123, 124 and 125 of the Local Government Act which states that anyone to be appointed as a governor or a deputy governor must come from the civil service.
Even before the conclusion of the case, the officials were hurriedly redeployed to various ministries while their deputies were posted to the ministry of local government.
In an exclusive interview with Kerr Fatou yesterday, Mr Darboe disclosed that the UDP has already appealed against the dismissal of the case and preparations are at advanced stages to take the matter to the Supreme Court.
“We are going to the Supreme Court. This is why I cut my diaspora tour. The government said they were redeploying them which means transfer or posting but the president has got nothing to do with public service postings and transfers. It is the Public Service Commission that is mandated by the constitution to do that,” he said.
Mr Darboe said taking people from governors and deputy governors to permanent secretaries is a promotion which is not within the remit of the president.
“That is a matter for the Public Service Commission. This is why I came to challenge the decision at the Supreme Court. The idea is to stop the government or the president from doing whatever they want, even if it is not within the remit of the law. What we are saying is that these people are not qualified to be appointed as governors and deputy governors. How could you promote people whose appointments are not valid? But in any case, it is for the Supreme Court to decide that,” he concluded.
