By: Isatou Sarr
Justice Sonia Akinbiyi of the Banjul High Court Annex has dismissed a suit filed by Home-Land Development Company Limited against Alhagie Conteh and the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC), citing it as frivolous, vexatious, and an abuse of court process.
The ruling followed a motion filed on March 25, 2025, by the first defendant, Alhagie Conteh (the applicant), requesting that the suit be struck out on the grounds that it disclosed no reasonable cause of action and constituted an improper use of judicial resources.
In support of the motion, counsel for the applicant argued that the plaintiff, acting through Edrissa S. Sanyang on behalf of M.D. Home-Land Development Company Ltd, had previously instituted a suit involving the same parties and subject matter before the same court. The earlier case, presided over by Justice Sarah Aryee, also named Alhagie Conteh and NAWEC as defendants and sought similar reliefs.
Justice Akinbiyi, in her ruling, underscored that civil litigation requires proof on a balance of probabilities. She emphasized that an abuse of court process arises when a litigant misuses judicial procedure, such as through forum shopping or initiating multiple suits on the same issue, thereby obstructing the fair administration of justice.
“The institution of frivolous or vexatious suits, as well as duplicative litigation aimed at securing a more favorable outcome, amounts to forum shopping and an abuse of process,” she said.
After reviewing the facts, Justice Akinbiyi concluded that Edrissa Sanyang acted as the alter ego of the plaintiff company in both cases, essentially placing the same parties, subject matter, and issues before the court twice.
“I find that the plaintiff in the suit before Justice Sarah Aryee is the alter ego of the present plaintiff. Parties are the same, subject matter the same, and issues definitely the same,” she stated.
Justice Akinbiyi held that the repeated litigation demonstrated clear intent to manipulate the court’s process. “The foregoing reveals a clear scenario of forum shopping filing multiple actions and employing the process of court malevolently for purposes for which it is not intended. I find that this suit, aside from lacking a cause of action, is an abuse of court process. It is vexatious and utterly frivolous.”
She therefore granted the application, dismissing the suit in its entirety.