Defence Seeks Adjournment in Rongo’s D30 Million Civil Suit

Defence Seeks Adjournment in Rongo’s D30 Million Civil Suit

The defence team in a D30 million civil suit filed by Gambian musician Momodou Lamin Jarju, popularly known as Rongo, has on 23 June 2026 applied for an adjournment to allow time for the certification of documents intended to be relied upon during the trial. The case, before the High Court in Banjul, involves claims of unlawful arrest and detention, malicious prosecution and loss of earnings allegedly arising from the conduct of the defendants. The last adjourned date was 14 May 2026, and on that day, the judge asked the defendants to come with original documents or certified documents. The defendants in the suit are Momodou Lungs Jarju, Alkalo of Banjulinding; Imam Yahya Bah of Banjulinding; Lala Njie, legal representative of Malang Njie; Dawda Badjie, legal representative of Modou Badjie; Landing Korteh; Abdou Jarju, legal representative of Lamin Nafulou Jarju; Hamadou Ceesay, legal representative of Jarbel Ceesay; Foday Barry, a former senior officer of the Drug Law Enforcement Agency, The Gambia (DLEAG); the Inspector General of Police; and the Director General of DLEAG. The plaintiff is seeking D30 million in damages, comprising D10 million for unlawful arrest and detention, D10 million for malicious prosecution and D10 million for loss of earnings. When the matter came before Justice Sarah Aryee on 23 June 2026, Counsel M.L. Ceesay announced his appearance for the plaintiff (Rongo) while Senior Counsel Kebba Sanyang appeared for the defendants. Counsel Sanyang for the defendants applied for a further adjournment, informing the court that some documents the defence intends to rely on had not yet been certified. “We still have some documents that are not yet certified, and we will want to rely on them in this court. Therefore, I seek an adjournment to make sure that the documents are certified before the next adjourned date,” Counsel Sanyang told the court. Counsel M.L. Ceesay opposed the application, arguing that the defence had sufficient time to prepare the documents, noting that the matter had already been adjourned for nearly a month. According to counsel for the plaintiff, the defence was aware that the documents required certification before being tendered in evidence. After hearing submissions from both sides, Justice Aryee stated that court records showed that the defence had been regularly attending proceedings. As a result, she declined to award costs against the defendants. The judge, however, urged the defence to ensure that all documents intended for use in the case are properly certified before the next hearing date to avoid further delays in the proceedings. The matter was subsequently adjourned to November 2026 to continue the hearing. Court proceedings also revealed that the plaintiff had tendered approximately 35 documents before closing his case. Readers would recall that on Thursday, 14 May 2026, Momodou Lungs Jarju officially entered the witness box to testify before the court. While giving his testimony, the witness tol…

Source: Foroyaa Gambia