Gambian President Yahya Jammeh Need To Appoint More Supreme Court Judges

Even after immense pressure domestically as well as internationally to step down, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has challenged the elections result at Supreme Court.

Initially the leader conceded defeat in a December 1 presidential poll, but later announced in a televised message he would not accept the result as errors have come to notice.

Meanwhile, the opposition fears Jammeh may use judicial system to stay in power.

His party, Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) filed a complaint to court on December 13 citing the presidential poll was void and opposition leader Adama Barrow was not duly elected.

Jammeh is in power for about 22 years and in his televised speech he said the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) violated electoral law and returning officers intimidated legitimate voters to turn away on election day.

It is important to know the Supreme Court in the country has lain dormant since May 2015 with the only current sitting judge, Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle, who is a Nigerian national.

Last year the president fired several judges following they commuted death sentences of former military officers to life imprisonment.

The constitution requires five judges to hear the challenge and a total of six if the decision requires a judicial review. This mean the leader need to appoint judges to Supreme Court.