By Mariama Marong
The Brusubi Revising Court has dismissed Bubacarr Jaiteh’s objection to Mandou Jallow’s voter registration, ruling that Jaiteh did not prove Jallow was ineligible to remain on the voters’ list.
Magistrate Mam Samba Jallow said Jaiteh had not shown that Jallow was a foreign national or a citizen of another country. She ordered that Jallow’s name remain on the register in his constituency.
Jaiteh told the court he was a registered voter and had served as a polling agent during the 2026 supplementary voter registration. He said he challenged Jallow’s registration because he believed Jallow was not Gambian and had used an Alkalo’s attestation to obtain a voter card. He said he was advised to bring the matter before the Revising Court.
The court heard evidence from Lamin B. Fatty, who said he had worked with the birth-registration system since 2004. Fatty said he appeared to check the birth certificate presented by Jallow. He told the court the Registry’s database held about 1.4 million birth registrations, but a search did not find a record for Jallow.
“The birth certificate of Mandou Jallow is not genuine, and it is not in our system,” Fatty told the court.
Fatty said official birth certificates carry registration numbers and codes that identify a person and can include regional and constituency information. He said the code “WDN19” on Jallow’s certificate did not appear in the Registry’s system, and the number 913 did not match Jallow’s name in the official records.
Fatty said the certificate’s coding pointed to Banjul, while Jallow had told the court that his registration was carried out in Foni. He said the certificate contained no information corresponding to Foni. Asked whether people sometimes encountered birth certificates that had not been issued by the Registry, Fatty said such cases had occurred, and authorities had taken action. He said the cases were among the reasons for introducing electronic birth certificates.
The court admitted Registry records as an exhibit after Jallow did not object to their submission. Jallow told the court he was Gambian, had been born in a village in Foni and had two Gambian parents. He said he lived in Sanchaba Sulay Jobe and knew the Alkalo there.
When voter registration was announced, Jallow said he asked the Alkalo of Sanchaba Sulay Jobe for an attestation and took it to an IEC registration officer. He denied Jaiteh’s allegations and opposed the challenge to his citizenship and registration.
In her judgment, Magistrate Jallow said the issue was whether Jaiteh had proved that Jallow was not Gambian and was not entitled to remain on the voters’ register. She referred to Section 13 of the Elections Act, 2025, which lists documents that may be used for voter registration, including a birth certificate, Gambian passport, National Identity Card and prescribed attestation. She also cited Section 28(2)(b), which allows a Revising Court to remove a person from the register if the person is proved ineligible.
“The mere filing of an objection does not, by itself, establish the allegations contained in it,” the magistrate said.
She also cited Section 30 of the Act, which applies the rules of evidence used in civil proceedings before a Magistrate Court to Revising Court cases. The magistrate said Jaiteh had not provided direct evidence that Jallow was a foreign national or held citizenship in another country. She said the objector had to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that Jallow did not meet the requirements for registration.
“Suspicion must give way to evidence,” she said.
Magistrate Jallow dismissed the objection and ordered that Jallow’s name remain on the voters’ register. She directed that the appropriate entry be made in the voters’ list under Section 28(6) of the Elections Act, 2025.
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