The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubacarr Tambadou has updated the press about activities at his ministry.
The Justice Minister has highlighted several important issues including the NIA 9 Case, Truth, Reconciliation & Reparation Commission, Constitutional Review and the Commission of Inquiry among others.
He spoke about the intention of the Prosecutor General of the NIA 9 Case to come up with additional 14 new charges on top of the previous 12 counts, making it a total of 26 counts. The case, he said will resume next Monday.
Minister Tambadou also brief the press about the public consultations that his ministry recently embarked on at all the administrative regions and communities around the country to gauge the opinions and views of the Gambian people on the TRRC.
“The overall idea of establishing a TRRC received overwhelming support from the public,” Attorney General Abubacarr Tambadou said.
He spoke about the delegation comprising his Ministry, Police and other stakeholders that went for a short training in South Africa, saying they are on the final stages of the draft TRRC as the Bill will be soon passed to the National Assembly for approval hopefully before the end of October.
“All members will be Gambians of high professional integrity,” he asserted.
He added that the members will be selected from all regions reflecting national character including women, youth, religious groups and community leaders.
“It will serve a first period of two years,” he said.
The Justice Minister further spoke about a draft Bill on Constitutional Review which will be soon presented to the National Assembly. He reiterated that the review will be open to contributions from the lawmakers and stakeholders as well. He emphasized that once a Constitution is drafted it has to be subjected to a referendum.
Attorney General Tambadou also spoke about the Commission of Inquiry mandate of which is extended to a period of 6 months.
When asked whether there will be possible prosecution of those guilty of misusing public funds, he said they would rather wait for the findings, reports and recommendations of the commission which will be respected and applied to the fullest.
“We will follow the recommendations of the commission to the letter,” Attorney General Tambadou replied.
Meanwhile, he spoke about the capacity building of his ministry with the donation of new computer desktops and internet services provided to all counsels.
