By Omar FaFa M’Bai, Esq
Your Excellency, Mr Adama Barrow, President of the Republic of The Gambia. I have the honour and privilege to write to Your Excellency following the recent and remarkable legal victory secured by the Republic of The Gambia through the successful annulment of the approximately US$33.2 million international arbitration award previously rendered against our country.
Your Excellency, this was no ordinary legal victory. For a country of The Gambia’s size and economic circumstances, an international liability of such magnitude could have placed a considerable burden upon the national purse and, ultimately, upon the Gambian taxpayer. Resources that might otherwise have been required to satisfy such an award are resources upon which competing national priorities, health, education, infrastructure and the welfare of our people, inevitably depend.
It is against this background and following my recent public reflections on the significance of this achievement, that I respectfully invite Your Excellency to consider the formal public recognition, through an appropriate national awards or honours process, of those whose distinguished service contributed to this exceptional outcome.
In particular, I respectfully commend for consideration Mr Edi MO Faal, Mrs Cherie Booth-Blair, KC, the Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Dawda A Jallow, Mr Hussein Thomasi, Solicitor General, Senior Counsel Kebba Sanyang, State Counsel Ms Mariama NGum,State Counsel Mr Charles Njai’ and the members of the legal team and state law officers at the Attorney General’s Chambers who contributed to the successful defence of the Republic.
The case called for legal ability and advocacy of a particularly high order. International arbitration at this level demands mastery of complex questions of jurisdiction and international law, meticulous legal research and analysis, strategic judgment, persuasive written and oral advocacy, and the intellectual discipline required to identify and successfully challenge fundamental deficiencies in an adverse international award.
The ultimate annulment of the award in full therefore represents an achievement worthy of national recognition.
I believe there is also a wider and enduring national significance in recognising those who rendered this service.
Nations inspire excellence when they recognise excellence.
When exceptional service to the Republic is publicly acknowledged, the honour extends beyond its recipients. It communicates something important about the values of the nation itself, that professional excellence matters, that distinguished public service matters, that defending the national interest with competence, integrity and dedication matters and that those who place their knowledge and abilities at the service of their country will be remembered and celebrated.
I am particularly encouraged by Your Excellency’s Government’s recognition and utilisation of Gambian legal talent in a matter of such international significance. The prominent role entrusted to Mr Edi MO Faal, working alongside distinguished international counsel Mrs Cherie Booth-Blair, KC, and supported by the Attorney General, Mr Dawda Jallow, Solicitor General, Mr Hussein Thomasi, Senior Counsel Kebba Sanyang, State Counsel Ms Mariama NGum,State Counsel Mr Charles Njai’ and the wider legal team, sends a powerful message that Gambian professionals can stand confidently at the highest levels of international legal practice.
That message deserves to be amplified.
There are young Gambian lawyers today, and generations yet to enter the profession, who should be able to look upon this achievement and understand that the size of their country need never define the limits of their professional aspirations. They should know that a Gambian lawyer can engage the most complex questions of international law, appear at the highest levels of international dispute resolution, and contribute meaningfully to outcomes of profound national importance.
Formal recognition of this team would therefore do more than commemorate a victory already achieved. It would create an enduring national example of excellence, patriotism and service for others to emulate.
I equally believe that such recognition would reflect positively upon the institutions of the Republic. The successful outcome demonstrates what can be achieved when political leadership provides a clear mandate, the Attorney General’s Chambers exercises sound institutional judgment, and highly capable professionals are entrusted with the responsibility of defending the national interest.
Your Excellency’s decision, following the adverse award, to support its challenge through lawful means was itself consequential. The eventual success of that challenge demonstrates the importance of leadership that is prepared to defend the Republic while remaining firmly within the framework of law and international dispute resolution.
It is therefore in a spirit of national pride, rather than personal or political consideration, that I respectfully place this suggestion before Your Excellency.
The conferral of any national honour is, of course, a matter for the appropriate constitutional and institutional processes, and I respectfully defer entirely to those processes as to the nature and level of any recognition considered appropriate. My humble submission is simply that an achievement of this magnitude, and those whose distinguished service made it possible, merit consideration for formal recognition by the nation they served.
The Gambia should develop and preserve a culture in which we do not wait until our distinguished citizens and public servants are gone before acknowledging the value of their contributions. Where excellence has been demonstrated and exceptional service rendered to the Republic, there is virtue in recognising it publicly and in our own time.
This legal victory has protected the national interest, strengthened confidence in Gambian professional capability, and provided an important example for our country’s legal and institutional history.
It is a victory worthy of remembrance.
And those who rendered exceptional service in securing it are worthy of our nation’s gratitude.
I therefore respectfully invite Your Excellency to consider, through the appropriate national awards or honours process, the formal recognition of Mr Edi MO Faal, Mrs Cherie Booth-Blair, KC, the Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mr Dawda A Jallow, Mr Hussein Thomasi, Solicitor General, Senior Counsel Mr Kebba Sanyang, State Counsel Ms Mariama NGum,State Counsel Mr Charles Njai’ and the members of the legal team and state law officers at the Attorney General’s Chambers, in recognition of their respective and collective contributions to this historic achievement for the Republic of The Gambia.
In the same spirit, Your Excellency may also wish to consider extending, through the Office of the Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Justice, an official invitation to Mrs Cherie Booth-Blair, KC, to visit The Gambia as a distinguished guest of the Government, with the invitation being conveyed through The Gambia High Commission in the United Kingdon in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice. Such a visit would provide an appropriate opportunity for the nation to formally express its gratitude for her outstanding contribution to this historic legal victory and would further strengthen the bonds of friendship, legal cooperation and mutual respect between The Gambia and the international legal community.
Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration and my continued prayers for the peace, progress and prosperity of our beloved Republic.
Yours respectfully,
Omar FaFa M’Bai, Esquire, Dubai, UAE
Editor’s note: the Original letter was signed and delivered to State House, Banjul.
