By Omar Bah
The Minister of Defense, Sering Modou Njie, on Wednesday informed the National Assembly that the ministry has received legal advice from the Attorney General on how to handle soldier Omar Sarjo’s case.
Ex–Corporal Omar Sarjo was dismissed from the army in 2017 after investigations by GAF and the SIS alleged that he gained admission into the army through irregular and fraudulent means. But in January 2022, a high court judge, Justice FA Achinboga, declared that the termination of the services of Corporal Sarjo by the Chief of Defence Staff in 2017 was a clear contravention of the 1997 Constitution.
The trial judge also declared his dismissal as a clear contravention of Section 33(1)a and b of the Gambia Armed Forces Act.
Following the judgement, the defense minister wrote to the Attorney General to provide legal advice on the matter. But NAMs, especially those from Foñi, have continued to raise concerns over the reason why the minister should delay a court ruling on the pretence that he is seeking legal advice.
However, responding to parliamentary questions on the matter, Minister Njie said: “We have now received the legal advice from the Ministry of Justice and submitted it to the National Assembly. We will now engage Omar Sarjo to address the impasse.”
In response, the NAM for Foñi Jarrol insisted that legal opinions have no authority over a high court judgement but the minister charged that there is “no law that prohibits his Ministry from seeking legal advice from the Ministry of Justice”. “So, like I said, now that we received the legal advice from the ministry of justice, we will engage Omar Sarjo to address the issue.”
Asked how soon they would engage Omar, Minister Njie said he has spoken to Omar’s lawyer and they will arrange a meeting soon.
When asked by the NAM for Kiang West Lamin Ceesay to tell the assembly how soon Omar Sarjo would return to work, Minister Njie said he had no answer to that.
Other NAMs also took to the podium to press the minister to give a definitive answer on the matter to ensure it was addressed as soon as possible.
