IGP vs Femi Peters: Darboe Says Charges Unconstitutional 
Yankuba Jambang, Editor & Publisher , Senegambianews.com 
Published 11/18/2009 - 7:55 a.m. GMT 



 

Inspector General of police, Ensa Badjie 



The leader of the opposition United Democratic Party, Mr Ousainou Darboe, told a Magistrate's Court in Kanifing that the Public Order Act under which his campaign manager Femi Peters has been charged, is unconstitutional.
Peters was arrested on October 24 for holding a political rally without a police permit. He is now charged with organizing an unlawful assembly and in possession of a public address system in violation of the law.
But in Tuesday's appearance in a magistrate's court in Kanifing, his attorney, Ousainou Darboe who is also the UDP leader, said charges against his client are unconstitutional, saying "...any law that has the effect of imposing an obligation on a person to seek permission to exercise one's right is inconsistent with the Constitution. This is the law ...made in exercise of the powers of the National Assembly".


Darboe then made an application under section 137 of the 1997 Gambian Constitution to have the matter before the Supreme Court of the land to rule on the constitutionality of the charges against Peters. The Constitution, he said, states that all laws 'must be in conformity with the Constitution'. He said section 4 of the Constitution "asserts the supremacy of the Constitution in no uncertain terms". 
Mr Darboe also told the presiding Magistrate Ikpala that sections 5 and 6 of the Public Order Act  are inconsistent with section 25, subsections 1 and D of the 1997 Constitution.
But police prosecutor, Inspector Kebba Fadera asked the court to dismiss Darboe's application. He said the matter before the court was neither a constitutional matter nor of any fundamental rights.
The charges against Femi Peters, Fadera argued, were criminal offenses which the Kanifing Magistrate's court has jurisdiction to decide. He further asserted that defense counsel Darboe made similar application before magistrate Emmanuel Nkea in Banjul but was denied. Mr Darboe however said the prosecutor's statements were erroneous and misleading. 
Magistrate Ikpala is scheduled to make a ruling on whether to move the case before the Supreme Court on November 23.
The prosecution had earlier called their first witness, Deputy police Commissioner of Kanifing, Ebrima Manneh who recalled being assigned to inquire from femi Peters whether he had a police issued permit to hold a public rally.
Manneh told the court that when his boss, Commissioner Momodou Sowe, instructed him to go to the UDP rally in Serrekunda and demand from the party leadership to produce a police permit on October 24, party supporters yelled at him as he questioned Femi Peters. He said Peters responded by asking him to either go and ask the Inspector General of police or wait for the arrival of the party leader, Ousainou Darboe.
Under cross examination, Ousainou Darboe asked Deputy Commissioner Manneh whether he had in his possession a letter from the Inspector General of police denying UDP's request for a permit. Manneh answered 'no', but hastened to add that a denial was scribbled on the very application UDP filed with IGP's office.
Ousainou Darboe further asked Deputy commissioner Manneh to tell the court whether IGP's denial of UDP's permit request was ever communicated to the party leadership at any given time before Tuesday's hearing. Commissioner Manneh again answered 'no' but quickly added "it was a denial, nonetheless". 
"Was it not contemptuous of the IGP to decide not to bother conveying an official response to an official request?, Darboe asked. 
Deputy Commissioner Manneh was also asked whether he could identify who the UDP leader was. To that, he pointed Ousainou Darboe as the leader. He was also asked if Femi Peters was the UDP leader. Manneh again said 'no" but told the court that political parties sometimes change leaders.


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