By Kebba AF Touray
Members of the National Assembly have continued to consider the Criminal Offences Bill 2020 which among others, seeks to place a seven-year prison term on anyone employed in the public service and directly or indirectly abuses the authority of his or her office.
On Monday 9 September 2024, the lawmakers set out to consider the bill which intends to stop abuse of public office.
As stipulated in this Bill, such a person is deemed to have committed a misdemeanor, and if the act is done or directed to be done for purposes of gain as stated in Clause 83 (2), he or she is deemed to have committed a felony and is liable upon conviction, to a fine of three hundred thousand Dalasi or for an imprisonment of seven years or both. This particular punishment is contained in Clause 83 (1) of the Bill which states: “A person who being employed in the public service, does or directs to be done, in abuse of the authority of his or her office, any arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of another, commits a misdemeanor.”
Clause 83 (2) states: “If the act is done or directed to be done for purposes of gain, he or she commits a felony, and is liable upon conviction to a fine of three hundred thousand Dalasi, or for an imprisonment of seven years or both.’’ Sub-section (3) of Clause 83 further states: ‘‘Prosecution for an offence under this Clause, or Clause 81 or 82 of this Act, shall not be instituted except by or with the sanction of the Attorney-General.”
Clause 84 of the Bill deals with false certificates by public officers and it states: ‘‘A person who, being authorized by law to give any certificate touching a matter by virtue whereof the rights of a person may be prejudiced, gives a certificate which is, to his or her knowledge as false in any particular material, commits a misdemeanor.’’
Clause 80 of the Bill deals with public officers who accept bribes and states: “A person who being employed in the public service takes or accepts from any person for the performance of his or her duty as such officer a reward beyond his or her proper pay and emoluments, or any promise of such reward, commits an offence and is liable to a fine of one hundred thousand Dalasi or for an imprisonment of seven years or to both.”
Clause 81 which relates to public officers receiving property to show favor indicates that ‘‘a person who being employed in the public service receives any property or benefit of any kind for himself or herself on the understanding, express or implied, that he or she shall favor the person interested in a transaction then pending or likely to take place between the person giving the property or conferring the benefit, or anyone in whom he or she is interested, and any person employed in the public service.’’ Such a person according to the Clause, commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to a fine of one hundred thousand Dalasi or for an imprisonment of three years or to both.
Clause 345 is in respect of “Other conspiracies” and indicates that a person who conspires with another to effect any of the purposes following, that is to say:
(a) to prevent or defeat the execution or enforcement of any Act;
(b) to cause any injury to the person or reputation of a person or to depreciate the value of any property of a person;
(c) to prevent or obstruct the free and lawful disposition of any property by the owner thereof for its fair value;
(d) to injure any person in his or her trade or profession;
(e) to prevent or obstruct by means of any act or acts which if done by an individual person would constitute an offence on his or her part, the free and lawful exercise by a person of his or her trade, profession or occupation;
(f) to effect any unlawful purpose or
(g) to effect any lawful purpose by any unlawful means, commits a misdemeanor.
The Bill was tabled before Members of the Fifth Legislature in the 2020 Legislative Year by the erstwhile Minister for Justice, Abubacarr Tambadou.
According to former Justice Minister Tambajudou, the first tabling of the Bill was the first attempt to undertake a comprehensive review of the Criminal Code of the Gambia since its enactment in 1933 and said the Bill seeks to align the country’s criminal justice legislation with current trends by removing all provisions inimical to freedom of speech such as criminal defamation and sedition. In addition, he said the Bill also sought to close a longstanding legal lacuna by expanding the criminal jurisdiction of Gambian courts towards offenses committed by persons outside the country, and who thereafter enter The Gambia instead of being extradited for trial in a foreign state. He said all the sentences under the old law were also reviewed in the Bill to bring them in line with current realities.
The consideration of the bill is expected to continue in the next session of the Sixth Legislature of the Gambia in the 2024 Legislative Year.
