By Buba Gagigo
Modou Lamin Faal and Amadou Tidiane Diallo, through their legal representative Lamin J. Darboe, have written to the Gambia Revenue Authority’s Commissioner General, Yankuba Darboe, requesting the reopening of their shops.
Several shops in Brikama were reportedly closed by the GRA for possessing beverage bottles without revenue stickers.
“I act for Modou Lamin Faal, and Amadou Tidiane Diallo (my Clients), shop owners in Brikama, Kombo Central District, West Coast Region, and write this letter on their instructions. My Clients operate shops at Brikama and instructed that about 12:30 today they were pounced upon by personnel of the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) and their shops summarily closed for carrying a few beverage bottles without revenue stickers, conduct that equates to killing a mouse with a bomb,” Lawyer Lamin J. Darboe said.
According to the lawyer, the GRA officers left no written documentation or names, only an operational mobile phone number (3728582). Faal and Diallo were instructed to report to GRA Headquarters in Banjul on Monday, September 9.
“When I called the number left with my Clients, it was answered by GRA officer Mr. Amfaal Ngum (Mr. Ngum), who claimed their conduct was ordered by you and must therefore be legal.
“Nothing is further from the truth. If the entire shop is just beverages, this conduct of Mr. Ngum may be understandable, but the beverage component is a tiny fraction of my Client’s business stock. Clearly, the police power of the State is an extraordinary weapon and must be unfailingly utilized with restraint and civility under the due process of law,” he said.
The lawyer emphasized that there is no legal justification for the three-day closure of his clients’ shops and urged the Commissioner General to instruct his officers to reopen the shops immediately.