Lawyer
Banjul, The Gambia
Joined January 2017
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PDOIS, God bless them, are arguably the most intellectually principled political party in Gambian history. But boy, oh boy, how out of touch with political reality!
Do they seriously believe that, at this eleventh hour, a PDOIS-led mini-coalition will attract any meaningful electoral numbers? If anything, it risks further fragmenting the opposition vote and inadvertently improving Barrow’s chances of re-election.
I listen to some of these Barrow loyalists attacking Talib and Lawyer Darboe and wonder how quickly they would switch sides if either became President. From Jawara's PPP to Jammeh’s APRC and Barrow’s NPP, some political characters are only interested in proximity to power. Their loyalty is not to any leader, but to whoever holds power.
Abdoulie Fatty retweeted
Matriculated into the @UniofOxford to read for a Doctor of Philosophy in Law.🙏🏽
Sometimes I wonder whether there are two parallel worlds: the real world and the world of politicians. Because some political decisions simply defy rational explanation.
How does Macky Sall, with the record of killings, repression and serious human rights abuses under his presidency in Senegal, confidently believe that he has the moral authority and governance credentials to lead the United Nations?
Back in the office today for the first proper time since August, following the summer vacation. Feels good to be back, catching up with colleagues and settling into the familiar routine as we begin the first term of the new legal year.
Looking forward to a busy, fulfilling and productive legal year ahead. Here's to fresh energy, renewed enthusiasm and making the most of the year ahead!
Barely two years after installation, look at the disgraceful state of these crash barriers along Bertil Harding Highway! Our recklessness and blatant disregard for public infrastructure are appalling. We demand development yet fail to protect what we have. Sometimes, we are our own worst enemies!
Abdoulie Fatty retweeted
ELECTORAL INTEGRITY IS MORE THAN POLLING DAY
By Abdoulie Fatty
Since 2021, I have argued that The Gambia needs a dedicated electoral conduct and enforcement body, independent of the IEC — or, at the very least, a properly resourced and fully capacitated Directorate within the IEC — to regulate campaign conduct and financing, equitable media access, misuse of incumbency and the wider electoral environment.
I have made this point whenever I have had the opportunity to engage with international election observers and at forums on electoral reform. I remember raising it in late 2024 at a forum organised by the European Union to discuss its recommendations following the 2021 elections, attended by the current IEC Chairman, who was then Deputy Chairman, as well as representatives of political parties. I remember UDP’s LaminManneh arguing against my proposal for a separate independent institution, on the basis that another body with its own budget and administrative structure would place further strain on already limited public resources. It was a fair concern. But the regulatory gap remains.
The IEC is already stretched administering voter registration, nominations, polling, counting and the enormous logistics involved in delivering an election. We cannot realistically expect the same institution to police every aspect of electoral and campaign conduct with equal effectiveness.
What we are witnessing on the so-called Meet the People’s Tour makes this institutional gap glaring. Section 222(15) gives the tour a specific constitutional purpose: to enable the President to familiarise himself with current conditions and the effects of government policies. Yet what we are now seeing is overt politicking, attacks on the opposition and mobilisation of NPP alliance members — all under the banner of a constitutionally sanctioned government policy tour.
If this is not politicking, what exactly would politicking look like?
The IEC is already overwhelmed administering the pre-election processes for December 5th. From here on, its primary focus will understandably be on preparing for and delivering the actual poll. Campaign conduct, campaign financing, misuse of incumbency, equitable media access and the wider electoral environment may consequently appear peripheral to that core responsibility. But they are anything but peripheral to electoral integrity.
Elections are not free and fair simply because polling day is well administered and everything goes smoothly. What happens in the months and weeks before polling day matters just as much.
Since 2021, I have argued that The Gambia needs a dedicated electoral conduct and enforcement body, independent of the IEC — or, at the very least, a properly resourced and fully capacitated Directorate within the IEC — to regulate campaign conduct and financing, equitable media access, misuse of incumbency and the wider electoral environment.
The IEC is already stretched administering voter registration, nominations, polling, counting and the enormous logistics involved in delivering an election. We cannot realistically expect the same institution to police every aspect of electoral and campaign conduct with equal effectiveness.
What we are witnessing on the so-called Meet the People's Tour makes this institutional gap glaring. Section 222(15) gives the tour a specific constitutional purpose: to enable the President to familiarise himself with current conditions and the effects of government policies.
Yet what we are now seeing is overt politicking, attacks on the opposition and mobilisation of NPP alliance members — all under the banner of a constitutionally sanctioned government policy tour.
If this is not politicking, what exactly would politicking look like?
The IEC is already overwhelmed administering the pre-election processes for December 5th. From here on, its primary focus will understandably be on preparing for and delivering the actual poll.
Campaign conduct, campaign financing, misuse of incumbency, equitable media access and the wider electoral environment may consequently appear peripheral to that core responsibility. But they are anything but peripheral to electoral integrity.
Elections are not free and fair simply because polling day is well administered and everything goes smoothly. What happens in the months and weeks before polling day matters just as much.
Why are politicians, including opposition politicians now allied with the NPP, on the Government’s Meet the People’s Tour? Are they government officials now?
But of course, there’s no politicking here. They’re simply making up the numbers! 😂
Especially with the presidential election just over 60 days away. So, no way this could possibly be an electoral campaign under the guise of a constitutionally sanctioned government policy tour! 😅
Some things are beyond politics. Some things are values that inherently bind us as human beings and Gambians, regardless of ethnicity, religion or partisan politics.
When people systematically try to divide us, using tribe and ethnicity as fuel to fan simmering tensions, that conduct poses an existential threat to The Gambia’s well-known tolerance, social harmony and cohesion.
We should be unanimous in condemning this menace.
Gambians, it is high time we spoke up against this phenomenon. It is both a moral and civic duty.
Abdoulie Fatty retweeted
Bail applications are actually a waste of the lawyer’s time and effort. The judges have understood the word discretion in considering bail to mean arbitrary; hence they don’t apply reason and law in bail applications. Pretrial detentions should be the exception, not the rule.
Today, I retraced my old commute from York to Leeds and casually popped into BPP Law School, where I did my Bar many moons ago.
The Bar was a horrendous experience — and I suspect anyone who has done it anywhere will have their own war stories. 😂
As I approached the building, I could still feel that familiar tingling anxiety in my belly. Funny how the body remembers these things.
But this time, the nostalgia outweighed the anxiety. I walked back into a place I once associated with enormous pressure, uncertainty and endless studying, and left smiling at just how far the journey has taken me.
Life. 😊
Gambia is like a horror movie that's unscripted and never ends. Because it's unscripted, there are twists and turns at every stage. We, the viewers, are at the mercy of the actors, forced to remain glued to our seats as the plot thickens. Momentary escapes from the anxiety of the movie are often shattered by sudden and unimaginable new twists.
Happy birthday Serigne @salieutaal Wishing you a splendid birthday weekend. The whole TLP family wishes you many more in good health, happiness and success.
I tweeted yesterday about how we instrumentalise the law. One troubling legacy of the Jammeh era that, in my view, this administration has inherited and intensified is the weaponisation of the law.
Criminal justice exists to punish and deter genuine criminality, not to become an instrument of repression. Yet, too often in The Gambia, we use the law not to advance substantive justice for the ordinary citizen, but as an instrument to frustrate the enjoyment of rights and deny justice.
The law should protect the citizen, not be weaponised against him.
The electricity youth protesters charged with common nuisance are remanded at Mile 2. This offence is a misdemeanour. The punishment is a fine and or community service. Really beggars belief why they are sent to Mile 2 pending trial when the penalty for the offence itself excludes imprisonment.
In serious jurisdictions, the justice system is anchored on using the law to positively advance substantive justice. Oh no, not The Gambia. We revel in technicalities, using procedure to delay and deny substantive justice.
Simply put, we don't want to arrive at the destination. We mount roadblocks and deflate the tyres, all to intentionally prevent an outcome.
This year’s presidential election is shaping up to be the most emotionally exhausting in our history. It is already more polarising, divisive and emotionally charged than 2021.
The proliferation of TikTok, Facebook Live, X (Twitter) and other social media platforms as vehicles for politicking and public discourse is unparalleled. Politics, with all its inherent toxicity, is now in your face, in your house, on your phone and in your feed — even when you don’t go looking for it. The benefits and excesses of politics in the digital age.
Sometimes I wish I could just mute everything, disappear from all the noise and resurface on 6th December, when it’s all over.
But I can’t. Some things matter too much to simply tune out.
The sheer scale of financial mismanagement and pervasive corruption means that whenever there is a change in administration, we risk spending the next five years simply unearthing the extent of the plunder of the state, leaving very little time to actually govern, rebuild and implement meaningful programmes.
Nation of endless Commissions of Inquiry.