New Supreme Court Judge Sworn-in

The Daily Observer (Banjul)

Sheriff Janko

24 May 2011

The newly appointed judge of the Supreme Court of The Gambia was Monday sworn-in at a ceremony held at State House.

Justice Alouma Mariam Mukhtar, a Nigerian national took three different oaths of office, allegiance and secrecy, promising to discharge her duties without fear or favour, affection or ill will. The ceremony, which was presided over by the vice president and minister of Women’s Affairs, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, also had in attendance Cabinets ministers, senior government officials and officials from the Gambia’s legal system.

It would be recalled that following the recommendations of the Judicial Service Commission, His Excellency the president of the Republic of The Gambia, Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, acting on the powers vested in him under Section 138 Sub-Section (2) of the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia appointed Justice Alouma Mariam Mukhtar, as a judge of the Supreme Court of The Gambia. In her words of wisdom to the newly sworn-in judge, VP Njie Saidy on behalf of the Gambian leader thanked the Almighty Allah for the day. She also thanked the sister Republic of Nigeria for providing such a distinguished judge and other judges in the past and present; as well as other Commonwealth countries, including Ghana, for providing The Gambia with judges.

VP Njie-Saidy also harped on the efforts of President in making sure that justice reached the doorstep of every Gambian, whether rich or poor. “As the saying goes, justice delayed is justice denied and he [President Jammeh] wants to ensure that every Gambian and non-Gambian alike in the country have access to justice in the country,” she said, while paying glowing tribute to the Judicial Service Commission and the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice as a whole for guiding the judicial process in its entirety in the country and for expediting cases as a whole.

She acknowledged that with the present chief justice, a lot of backlog of cases have been expedited as they normally sit on Saturdays. She then stressed that The Gambia is working to Gambianise the bench. “We really value the expertise that we have from the Commonwealth countries especially those that share with us the same socio-culture. Justice itself has to be put in its proper socio-cultural perspective and context; that is why the Gambian leader values representation in the judiciary from our sub-region and region as a whole. I am sure that Justice Mariam must have read a lot about The Gambia, judicial situation of the country as the constitution which is dynamic as it has a lot of provisions that are related to human rights and justice among others, which are all geared towards justice delivery in the country,” the vice president stated, while assuring the new judge of government’s support at all times.

Speaking earlier, the chief justice of The Gambia, Emmanuel Agim described the Supreme Court of a country as the most important organ of the judiciary and in fact the entire legal system for the dispensation of justice. He explained that it is the Supreme Court that plays a dominant role in midwifing the justice system as it gives the direction and lays the pathway for all other agencies of law enforcement to follow. CJ Agim, while pointing out that it is very expensive to convene Supreme Court sittings, said they are worthwhile and assured that the sittings will become more regular. He stated that the Gambia Judicial system has a peculiar nature or a hybrid in the sense that the members that constitute the Supreme Court come from different jurisdictions and based on that reason, it has more quality as people bring in different ideas that give it more strength than the one with uniform panel. He hailed the newly sworn-in judge as a woman with vast experience in the field of law, adding that her coming will be an asset to the country.

The Attorney General and minister of Justice, Edward Gomez, described the event as a clear manifestation of the importance the Gambian government has shown towards the justice delivery system of this country. He also stressed that the expeditious and proper delivery of justice is a sine-qua-nom in any meaningful democracy. Minister Gomez then extended a warm and sincere welcome to the newly sworn-in judge on behalf of the entire Gambian populace assuring that she is at home. Shortly after taking her oaths, Justice Alouma Mariam Mukhtar thanked the government of The Gambia for what she called the confidence reposed on her. She then promised to work diligently to fully discharge her duties without fear or favour.

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