By: Alieu Jallow
The legal dispute between Mr Isaack Ague and the Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, Madam Claudiana Cole, is scheduled for a proper trial on December 5th, 2023.
The case has been ongoing for eight years but has not yet had a proper trial. The disagreement between the two is over land that Mr Isaack claimed to have purchased from the village development committee of Busumbala and constructed a classroom that Model Senior Secondary School is currently using.
Mr. Isaack, a former principal of the school under the Hon. Minister’s late husband Pa William Cole, started the operation of the school’s new settlement following the late proprietor’s inability to pay rent at the late Bading Drammeh’s school complex. After being asked to vacate the complex, Mr. Ague allegedly explored ways to sustain the school without the involvement of the late Pa Cole, who was a lecturer at the Gambia College.
After eight years of legal combat, the plaintiff Mr Isaac wants the court to issue an injunction restraining Hon. Claudiana Cole, her representatives, and employees from interfering with his land in Busumbala. The case resumed on Monday, November 6th, 2023, before Justice Tabally of the Brikama High Court.
The plaintiff asked the court to proceed with the trial, but this was objected to by the defense counsel Moses Richard, who argued that they couldn’t proceed with the case due to the absence of manually written records of proceedings in the court’s ledger book and new recording system.
The plaintiff sees the defence counsel’s submissions as a delay tactic, stressing that the pre-trial case is over. The case was subsequently adjourned to December 5th to allow the court registrar to work on regularizing the records of proceedings. The case resumes on December 5th for a hearing.
