By Yankuba Jallow
The Deputy Judicial Secretary has confirmed to Foroyaa that the contract for one of the panellists of the Kanifing Industrial Tribunal has expired since December 2019 and he has not yet been replaced.
“We have not started the process of replacing Mr. Yaya B. Njie at the Industrial Tribunal. I will consult the Chief Justice and Judicial Secretary to commence the process of replacing him. We have received a letter from the Ministry of Trade informing us about the issue and I can assure you we will start the process soon,” Bah told Foroyaa.
In an exclusive interview with Foroyaa, Mr. Dello Bah said Yaya B. Njie who was the trade union representative at the Tribunal has retired. Bah said Mr. Njie’s retirement came after he exhausted his six years contract with the judiciary. He said the laws state that one can only be contracted for not more than six years.
“Mr. Yaya B. Njie has served in that Tribunal for seven years. He shouldn’t have served more than six years. Therefore, we won’t pay him his gratuity for the seventh year. We have told him that and we have instructed the Treasury to pay him,” Bah said.
Readers will recall that Foroyaa published a story wherein litigants whose cases were adjourned for lack of operation of the Industrial Tribunal at the Kanifing Magistrate’s Court have called on the Chief Justice to take steps to appoint a new panellist.
Despite the Constitutional provision for trial within a reasonable time, the Industrial Tribunal still struggles to do away with backlogs of cases and including the 145 former employees of Ocean Bay case which began over 4 years ago. Foroyaa will do more investigation on the issue.
