Justice Basirou Mahoney on Tuesday ruled that the actions of the Mayor of Banjul Rohey Lowe in issuing attestation to the people of Banjul ran counter to the law. The appellate court justice also ruled that the action of the IEC in conferring the power on the mayor of Banjul to issue attestation contravened the Elections Act.
He ruled in a judgment that lasted nearly an hour: “Let me conclude by emphasizing there is no carte blanche or free hand for public bodies and authorities to perform their functions. They’re required to act within the law, intro vires, and not outside the law or ultra vires. This accords with the doctrine of separation of powers and rule of law.
“In light of the above, the following declarations are hereby made; one, it is declared that the actions of the mayor of Banjul in issuing attestation to the constituents of the city of Banjul in the Independent Electoral Commission general voter registration exercise are in contravention of Section 12(2)p(e) of the Elections Act.
“It is also declared that the action of the Independent Electoral Commission in conferring the power to the office of the mayor of Banjul in administering attestation form generated by the IEC for the purpose of [] voter’s cards in the city of Banjul are in contravention of Section 12(2)(e) of the Elections Act. I award costs of D20,000 in favour of the appellants.”
Two civil society groups and a councilor in Banjul had last month sued the mayor of Banjul, the IEC and the attorney general arguing that the mayor was acting unlawfully in issuing attestation in Banjul.
It came amid a huge controversy during which the mayor herself insisted she had the power to issue attestation and asked her critics to go to court.
In his judgment however, Justice Mahoney argued Banjul already had a law around the issue of birth where every child is required by law to be registered at birth and have a birth certificate unlike other parts of the country.
On the demand for the over 2,000 attestations the mayor had issued to be scrapped, the judge ruled: “Only the revising court can deal with individual entries in the register of voters.”
