President Adama Barrow, President Of the Republic, Deputy Speaker Hon. seedy Njie and Musa Sheriff Editor In Chief Voice Newspaper
( PhotoCredit: Standard Newspaper)
By Landing Ceesay
President Adama Barrow has filed a civil lawsuit against The Voice Newspaper and its Editor-in-Chief, Musa Sheriff, following the publication of a story alleging that Muhammed Jah, CEO of Qcell and Chairman of Q-Group, would succeed him as the National People’s Party (NPP) flagbearer in the 2026 presidential election.
The article, published on September 23, claimed that President Barrow had chosen Jah as his successor, a claim that the President and his legal team, led by Senior Counsel Ida Drammeh, strongly dispute. The legal team initially demanded that the newspaper retract the story and issue an apology, threatening legal action if the demands were not met. However, The Voice did not respond, and the story remained online.
On October 9, 2024, President Barrow officially filed a lawsuit at The Gambia’s High Court against the newspaper and its Editor-in-Chief, seeking aggravated damages, an injunction preventing further publication of the claims, and additional relief as deemed appropriate by the court.
The lawsuit is supported by a 12-paragraph affidavit from Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Seedy SK Njie, who stated that he was misquoted in the article. Njie explained that on September 22, Musa Sheriff contacted him with information about the alleged succession plans. Njie denied the claims and explicitly stated he was not giving an interview. Despite his objections, the article was published.
In his affidavit, Njie refuted several claims made in the article, including the idea that Jah’s alleged succession caused “consternation and trepidation” among senior NPP members. He emphasized that there was no truth to the notion that the President expressed a desire to relinquish power or was persuaded otherwise by party members.
“The 1st Defendant (Musa Sheriff) informed me that he was informed by two party members of the National People’s Party about the alleged succession plans published in the newspaper, I made it clear to him that there was no truth in that. I also said that I was not giving him an interview. Despite me telling the 1st Defendant that what he was alleged to have heard about Muhammed Jah, being the successor of the Plaintiff (President Barrow), was untrue. He went ahead and published the said article in the newspaper. It is not true that the news hit some NPP members and top-brass like a thunderbolt as stated in the said article. It is also not true that there is “consternation and trepidation among some top members of the ruling party as claimed in the said article. It is not true that the Plaintiff “expressed his desire to relinquish power or that he was talked out of doing so by party members,” he said.
Seedy Njie expressed his belief that Musa Sheriff was aware the allegation in the article was false. He added that it remains to be determined whether the President has actually selected the Q-Group Chairman to succeed him in the 2026 election.
“I made it clear that this allegation was not true. I was therefore very surprised that despite it being clear that this allegation would have a serious effect on our party that the same was disputed, the Defendants nevertheless went ahead and published the same,” Seedy Njie said.
The case has been assigned to Hon. Justice G.A. Kwaben by the Chief Justice of the Republic of The Gambia.
A hearing notice has been served to The Voice Newspaper and Musa Sheriff, requiring them to appear in court on October 25, 2024.