In a scathing rebuke that has ignited fresh outrage over child protection in The Gambia, Lamin Fatty, former National Coordinator of the Child Protection Alliance, decried Thursday’s High Court sentencing of a convicted rapist as a glaring miscarriage of justice. Justice Ebrima Jaiteh handed down a 20-year prison term to the perpetrator, who was found guilty of raping a girl under 13, but Fatty insists the punishment falls woefully short of the law’s ironclad mandates, potentially emboldening predators and eroding trust in the judiciary.
The conviction, stemming from a harrowing case that shocked communities in Banjul, unfolded in a packed courtroom where survivors’ advocates held their breath. The victim, whose identity remains shielded to protect her dignity, endured a brutal assault that prosecutors described as a profound violation of innocence. Under The Gambia’s Sexual Offences Act 2013, such crimes demand unflinching retribution—yet Fatty argues Justice Jaiteh veered perilously close to leniency, possibly misapplying or ignoring the statute’s explicit escalators for the most heinous violations.
“There is no ambiguity in sections 3 and 4 of the Act,” Fatty declared in a statement released hours after the gavel fell. Section 3 defines rape as any sexual act imposed through coercion, including on victims under 16, while Section 4 lays out the penalties with surgical precision. A baseline first conviction carries a minimum sentence of at least 10 years in prison. But for cases like this—where the complainant is under 13, rendering her exceptionally vulnerable—the law triggers mandatory life imprisonment. Fatty, a veteran crusader for child welfare who led the Alliance through turbulent reforms, lambasted the court for what he sees as a failure to honor these thresholds.
“This isn’t justice; it’s a whisper when the law roars,” Fatty said. “A 20-year term might sound severe to some, but for a child scarred before she could dream, it’s a slap on the wrist. The Act spares no room for discretion here—life means life, to shield the tiniest among us from becoming footnotes in a system that should protect them.”
The sentencing caps a two-year legal odyssey marked by emotional testimonies and forensic battles, with the prosecution invoking the Act’s safeguards for minors. Yet Fatty’s critique spotlights a deeper malaise: inconsistent enforcement amid resource-strapped courts and cultural taboos that silence survivors. “We’ve codified these protections post-2013, but today proves the gap between ink and action,” he added, urging an immediate appeal and parliamentary scrutiny. “Delve deeper into Section 4—grievous harm, vulnerability, trust breaches—all scream for the maximum. Overlook them, and we betray every child waiting in the shadows.”
