Africa-Press – Gambia. Members of the National Assembly engaged in a heated debate on Tuesday during the consideration stage of the Judicial Officers’ Condition of Service Bill 2025, following revelations that judges had already received increased salaries without parliamentary approval.
The bill initially sought to retroactively validate salary increases for judges of the Supreme Court, High Court, and Court of Appeal that were authorized by the president in June. However, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice clarified that the government had dropped the retrospective clause.
“My statement is we are no longer seeking a retrospective course in this bill. We want the bill to be considered on its face value. If it is approved, it will come to life at the same time that normal bills that you pass here come to life. Whatever happened before the date the bill will be passed will be regularized using other means other than the bill, because we are seeking a retrospective clause in order to regularize what has happened before the bill is passed. We are no longer speaking that we respect Parliament’s powers,” the minister said.
Hon. Almami Gibba, Member for Foni Kansala, raised concerns about discrepancies in salary records and the lack of clarity regarding payments to magistrates and other judicial staff. While acknowledging the need for fair compensation in the judiciary, he stressed that transparency and constitutional compliance must guide the process.
The Speaker urged members to focus on the bill’s provisions for future judicial salaries rather than payments already disbursed. “The bill before us is to determine how judicial salaries will be structured going forward. Issues relating to payments made prior to parliamentary approval will be addressed separately,” he advised.
Several lawmakers, including Hon. Sulayman Saho (Badibu Central) and Hon. Alhagie S. Darboe (Brikama North), sharply criticized the president’s unilateral decision to approve salary increases, describing it as unconstitutional.
“Our problem now is that already a violation has been done, a constitutional violation has been done, and the Parliament is a custodian of the Constitution. So if the ministry or the executive went around to make an increment by themselves, these are non-starters; we cannot start this thing. They have been found in contempt,” Saho argued.
Darboe added, “It is confirmed that the payment was approved by the president and effected in June, and what mandate did the president have to make that approval before the National Assembly approved it? So the minister cannot just tell us to ignore this.”
Despite the disagreements, the Assembly proceeded with deliberations on the bill, which, if passed, will establish the framework for judicial salaries going forward.
For More News And Analysis About Gambia Follow Africa-Press
