Principal magistrate Isatou Sallah-Mbai of the Kanifing Magistrates Court yesterday dismissed an objection filed by one Yankuba Sawaneh against the registration of Sarjo Jammeh, a woman, for being below 18 years of age.
However the court ordered that Jammeh’s name be retained on the register of voters because the evidence at hand does not establish she was below 18.
“The date of birth recorded in the attestation is 23 July 2007. The next presidential election is scheduled for 5 December 2026, so a person born on 23 July 2007 will have attained the age of nineteen years by that date. Consequently, the documentary information available in the court record does not support the Objector’s contention that the Objectee (Sarjo Jammeh) will be below eighteen years of age on the date of the next election,” Magistrate Sallah- Mbai stated .
According to the magistrate, the Objector has failed to discharge the burden resting upon him and that his evidence amounts to an expression of disbelief and suspicion based principally upon the Objectee’s appearance, school attendance, demeanour and her failure to answer a question concerning her age. Such matters, she ruled, do not individually or collectively establish the Objectee’s date of birth on the balance of probabilities.
“I therefore find that the Objector (Yankuba Sawaneh) has failed to prove that the Objectee (Sarjo Jammeh) is not entitled to have her name retained on the list of voters by reason of age. For the foregoing reasons, I find that the objection has not been established. The Objectee has not been shown to be disqualified from registration on the ground relied upon by the Objector. Accordingly, the objection fails. The name of Sarjo Jammeh shall remain on the list of voters,” she said. The magistrate informed the parties of their right to appeal to the High Court.
By Fatou Gassama
