Africa-Press – Gambia. The High Court presided over by Chief Justice Hassan B. Jallow Wednesday dismissed an application by former Auditor General Modou Ceesay seeking to amend his suit in the on-going civil action against the Ministry of Justice, the Inspector General of Police, and Cherno Amadou Sowe, the current Auditor General.
The case has now been adjourned to next week for the hearing of a preliminary objection challenging the court’s jurisdiction.
When the matter was called, a large team of lawyers appeared on both sides. Counsel L.J. Darboe, I.K. Jallow Suwureh, J. Jeng and Fatou Bondi represented the plaintiff, while Solicitor General Hawa Thomasi led the defence team alongside Ida Drameh, J.O. Okete, A.A. Wakawa, S.L. Jobarteh, M. Ngum and F. Touray.
Chief Justice Jallow informed the packed courtroom that several motions were before the court, including one filed by civil society organisations seeking leave to submit an amicus brief.
The court first heard the application from L.J. Darboe seeking to formally join Cherno Amadou Sowe as the third defendant and to amend both the writ of summons and the plaintiff’s statement of claim.
Ida Drameh opposed the motion, arguing that the request was redundant because the court had already joined Mr. Sowe suo motu. She further submitted that the amendments made by the plaintiff were inconsistent and that the relief seeking to restrain Mr. Sowe did not appear in the motion paper itself. She urged the court to dismiss the application.
In response, Darboe acknowledged the inconsistencies but described them as a technical error, urging the court to allow the amendment in the interest of substantial justice.
Delivering his ruling, Chief Justice Jallow agreed with the defence. He held that the application to add Mr. Sowe as a party was unnecessary since the court had already taken that step. He also found that the discrepancies between the amended writ and statement of claim made the prayers sought incapable of being granted. The application was accordingly dismissed.
However, the court granted the plaintiff leave to file fresh papers, should they choose to do so, on or before Friday, 5 December 2025.
The defence also filed a preliminary objection through Counsel Ida Drammeh, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter. The Chief Justice directed Ms. Drammeh to file her written arguments by Friday, with the plaintiff’s reply due on Monday, 8 December.
The matter has been adjourned to Tuesday, 9 December 2025 for the hearing of the jurisdiction objection, alongside the pending application by civil society groups and any renewed motion for amendment.
For More News And Analysis About Gambia Follow Africa-Press
