By Lamin Njie
At least one hundred people on Thursday showed up at the supreme court in Banjul to witness the hearing of the case of Ya Kumba Jaiteh.
The supreme court has said it will deliver its judgment in the case of the embattled national assembly member on Friday March 15, 2019.
It comes after the case was heard on Thursday with Ya Kumba Jaiteh’s lawyers asking the court to grant their application for an interim order that seeks to stay her removal.
“We are faced with a crisis situation which if not resolved will put us in a quagmire of having six nominated members of the national assembly which will be a violation of the constitution,” Bori Touray, who represents Ms Jaiteh told the court.
Touray added: “[This case] borders on the question of separation of powers. Equally, it touches on the integrity of national assembly members.”
Attorneys for the state in their intervention urged the court to dismiss Ms Jaiteh’s application.
“The said nomination is a privilege [and] such privilege doesn’t constitute a right. And one basic condition of an injunction is when a legal right is being threatened,” Binga Daniels told the court.
“What the plaintiff is challenging in this court is an issue of privilege which cannot be considered an issue of right. She has no right to claim before this court and so granting an interim order will amount to putting the state into a difficult situation.”
Meanwhile, the crowd that gathered outside the courtroom chanted, ‘Never Again,’ as soon as Ya Kumba Jaiteh came out of the courtroom. The crowd which was mostly made up of UDP supporters swarmed her as security personnel escorted her to her vehicle.
One man who gave his name as Alhagie told The Fatu Network: “We members of the UDP and some of us have been here since 6 am. We are here to send a message to the president and also to refute the comments made by Sarjo Barrow that it was only a handful of people who came out the other day.”
