Gambian President Adama Barrow has appointed Abubacarr M. Tambedou as the new Attorney General and minister of justice. Mr. Tambedou today took his oath of office after a brief absence when he was named along with 10 other ministers but could not be sworn in due to being away from the country.
Mr. Tambedou a celebrated young human rights lawyer and member of the Gambia Bar Association until recently was Assistant to the Office of the Prosecutor of the United Nation International Criminal Tribunal in Tanzania and former deputy prosecution to the UN who worked on Rwanda prosecuting crimes against humanity. Mr. Tambedou also served on the Gambia Bar Association and had practiced law running his own law farm along with his brother in the Gambia.
Abubacarr commonly known to friends and family as Ba Tambedou has been hailed as a brilliant young lawyer with impeccable character, honesty and professionalism. The December disputed elections found Ba in the Gambia on holidays where he offered his legal services to the coalition parties. He reportedly played a leading role in advising the coalition on former President Jammeh’s nullification of the elections.
His appointment as Attorney General is seen as the first non political appointment by President Barrow and his coalition government. At the swearing in ceremony, President Barrow described Ba Tambedou as “someone who works very hard and one who the Gambia needs as Justice minister at this time”. Mr. Darboe the minister of External Affairs speaking at the ceremony described Ba as a colleague with great character and legal background. In speaking to the media, Tambedou said his priority will be reforming the judicial institution and the Gambian constitution which he described as too weakened to serve the Gambian people during the last 22 years. He pledged to institute legal reform and restore the confident of the Gambian people in the judiciary system which has been politically used by the former regime. Ba also talked about reforming media laws and exploring an opportunity to pass a freedom of information act in the Gambia to enable the fourth estate to effectively play its rightful role in the third republic
Without an iota of doubt Tambedou’s appointment is yet the biggest test and challenge to the success of the third republic. He has a tremendous responsibility to navigate between delivering justice for victims of the former regime and reforming the constitution to a working document serving its purpose. He will be responsible for overseeing the much talked about truth and reconciliation commission intended to uncover the magnitude of atrocities committed by the former regime. This many people believe will allow citizens to come out and testify on what they know so the country can heal and move forward.
Report filed by Demba Baldeh