We totally agree with the veteran lawyer Ousainou Darboe, when he said the new Chief Justice should be a Gambian.

It is time the Chief Justice of The Gambia (whether acting or the substantive post holder) is a Gambian.

The argument is very clear!

After nearly 50 years of nationhood, our third arm of Government should not be headed by a non-Gambian.

We only hope that the letter addressed to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice by Lawyer Darboe would be given the serious consideration it deserves by the Executive, which has a hand in appointing the CJ.

Indeed, there has been a lot of talk of Gambianising the bench, and we do hope that the trend we have all seen of appointing more and more Gambians as judges and magistrates will continue.

Definitely, there are many well qualified Gambian legal luminaries who can be appointed to head the Judiciary.

While we thank the foreigners who have served with distinction as judges and magistrates in The Gambia, we feel the position could and should be occupied by a Gambian.

We, therefore, urge the President to consider giving a deserving Gambian the job, by selecting from among the Supreme Court judges who are Gambians, as required by the constitution.