By Mariama Marong
A magistrate has ordered Isatou Bah’s name removed from the voter register after immigration officials said they could not trace the serial number on the National Identity Card she used to register.
Senior Magistrate Isatou Jallow made the ruling after hearing an objection filed by Fatou Darboe. The court also ordered Bah to return her voter card.
Assistant Commissioner Momodou Jallow, who leads the National ID Card unit at the Gambia Immigration Department, told the court he had held the post for four years. He said the card’s serial number could not be found in the department’s database, despite searches by him and the technical team.
During cross-examination, Bah’s lawyer, H. Farage, asked whether the official’s conclusion was based on the failure to find the serial number in the system.
The assistant commissioner said yes. He told the court that National Identity Cards have a name number, a document number and a serial number, and that the serial number linked to Bah’s card could not be traced.
Counsel Senghore asked the witness to explain how information is processed and entered into the database. The magistrate ruled that the question was not valid. Senghore then asked about the result of the investigation, and the assistant commissioner repeated that the serial number was not in the system.
In her judgment, Magistrate Jallow referred to election law provisions allowing a birth certificate, National Identity Card, passport or Alkalo attestation to support voter registration.
She said Bah’s claimant form showed that she had used a National Identity Card. But the number recorded on the form was incomplete, preventing immigration officials from checking whether the document was authentic.
The magistrate said the evidence raised doubt about the identity document used for the registration. She also said Bah’s lawyer had not provided evidence that she used a valid National Identity Card.
Magistrate Jallow cited section 28(c) of the Election Act, which says a court may:
“expunge from the list of voters, the name of every person who, on the application of an Objector, is proved to the satisfaction of the court, not to be entitled to have his or her name retained in the list of voters; and”
She upheld Darboe’s objection and ordered Bah’s name removed from the register.