This past month has been a test of whether the system can be tempered to suit the language of the Constitution. One of the most notorious practices that earned the Jammeh administration international condemnation was detention without trial in gross violation of section 19 of the Constitution.
The Barrow administration has been and is still being put to a test, whether the action of the law enforcement agencies will be in line with section 19 of the Constitution.
Section 19 envisages that arrests would only take place based on evidence that is reasonable and justifiable to prefer charges against a person suspected of committing or being about to commit a crime.
When a person is in a position of power there is the temptation to use power not to bring a person suspected of committing a crime to justice but to intimidate critiques even though they do not necessarily say things outside the ambit of the law. That is a temptation that a government that respects the rule must avoid at all cost. It is important for government and people to realise that liberty requires respect, due process and actions in good faith under the ambit of the law if social harmony is to be maintained.
