By Mariama Marong
The Kanifing Revising Court has dismissed an objection to Modou Dalla’s voter registration, ruling that the objector failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove that he was not a Gambian citizen.
In a judgment delivered by Magistrate Isatou Jallow, the court ordered that Dalla’s name remain on the voters’ register for the Serrekunda West Constituency. The objection was filed on 20 July 2026 by Amie Sankanu, a registered voter who lives in Kololi. She argued that Dalla was not a Gambian citizen and should therefore be removed from the register.
Sankanu told the court that she had lived in Kololi for 15 years and had served as a polling agent since 2016. She said she had never seen Dalla in the community before he registered to vote.
She also alleged that Dalla was taken to the registration centre by Lamin Charm, whom she identified as an agent of the National People’s Party (NPP), in a party vehicle.
According to Sankanu, Dalla presented a birth certificate during the registration exercise. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) accepted the document and issued him a voter’s card.
Another witness, Kaddy Demba, also a Kololi resident, claimed that Dalla had used a fake birth certificate to register.
Demba told the court that the document was an old version that was no longer in use and contained alterations, including what she described as an unauthentic stamp.
However, her testimony came under scrutiny during cross-examination.
Demba admitted that she had obtained her own voter’s card using an old birth certificate with an elongated format and a red stamp. She also acknowledged that she could not provide evidence to prove that Dalla’s birth certificate was fake.
She further told the court that she could not remember the actual colour of the stamp on Dalla’s document.
Demba also confirmed that IEC officials had examined the birth certificate before accepting Dalla’s application for voter registration.
Counsel for Dalla declined to call a defence, arguing that the objector had failed to present sufficient evidence to require one.
He maintained that the case was based on suspicion rather than proof and urged the court to dismiss the objection.
In considering the case, Magistrate Jallow referred to Section 13(1) of the Election Act 2025, which sets out the requirements for voter registration.
Under the provision, a person qualifies to register as a voter if they are a Gambian citizen, have reached or will reach the age of 18 by the next election, and were born in or reside in the constituency where they seek registration.
The magistrate also referred to Section 13(2), which allows the IEC to register a person upon the production of any one of several specified documents. These include a birth certificate, Gambian passport, national identity card or an attestation from an Alkalo or Seyfo certifying that the person is Gambian. The law further provides that the Commission shall not reject a valid document presented under the provision.
Magistrate Jallow also cited Section 143(1) of the Evidence Act 1994, which places the burden of proving asserted facts on the person seeking a judgment based on those facts. She said the applicable standard of proof in civil proceedings before a Revising Court was the balance of probabilities.
Assessing the witnesses’ evidence, the magistrate raised concerns about Demba’s credibility, pointing to inconsistencies in her account of the alleged irregularities in Dalla’s birth certificate. The court noted that although Demba claimed the stamp was not authentic, she admitted that she could not remember its actual colour. It also considered her confirmation that IEC officials had inspected the document before registering Dalla.
Magistrate Jallow stressed that an objection to voter registration must be supported by evidence rather than suspicion alone.
“The Court cannot expunge a person’s name from the voters’ register merely because one person suspects that the person is a foreign national,” the judgment stated.
The court added that there must be evidence on which it can properly conclude that the legal requirements for voter registration have not been met. Magistrate Jallow ultimately found that Sankanu had failed to prove that Dalla was not a Gambian citizen or that he did not reside in the constituency where he was registered. She dismissed the objection and ordered that Dalla’s name remain on the voters’ register for the Serrekunda West Constituency.