At the last hearing in November, the panel of judges headed by Emmanuel Fagbenle, fixed judgment for today.
Joseph Wowo, who is serving his jail term at the State Central Prison in Mile 2, was sentenced in January together with the former Justice minister, Lamin Jobarteh. Wowo was found guilty of abuse of office, fraud and breach of trust, conspiracy to defeat justice and interference with witnesses, offences relating to judicial proceedings, to giving false information and false assumption of authority.
In July, Wowo appealed against the decision of the high court to the court of appeal. He wanted the judges to overturn the conviction and the sentence handed down to him by the Criminal Division of the High Court in Banjul presided over by Justice Emmanuel Nkea, a former judge who has since left The Gambia and has been declared a fugitive.
It could be recalled that in the middle of his trial, his lawyer Uzuma Achigbue, filed a motion for Nkea to recuse himself from presiding over his case. He said he had received an instruction from Wowo that Nkea would be biased in presiding over the matter. However, Justice Nkea rejected his request and went ahead with the trial.
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