By: Isatou Sarr
Justice Sonia Akinbiyi of the Banjul High Court Annex, Thursday, delivered a crucial ruling in the ongoing legal battle between Serenba Pharmaceuticals Company Limited and two government entities over a multi-million dalasi fertilizer supply contract.
The presiding judge ordered all parties to the case to file proper pleadings and prepare to present live testimony to substantiate their claims.
The case pits Serenba Pharmaceuticals as plaintiff against the Complaints Review Board (1st respondent) and the National Food Security Processing & Marketing Corporation (2nd respondent).
Following leave granted by the court on April 30, 2025, Serenba filed a motion for judicial review on May 6, seeking to overturn a decision made by the Complaints Review Board on April 5th, 2025.
The pharmaceutical company is demanding an order of certiorari to quash the board’s decision regarding their tender for supplying fertilizer and urea for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
They also want all contract implementation activities suspended pending the court’s final determination.
Serenba’s legal team argues that the court should exercise its supervisory powers to ensure the respondents act lawfully in the tender process.
However, Justice Akinbiyi found herself confronted with conflicting evidence from both sides. After reviewing detailed affidavits and legal briefs from all parties, she noted the “robust and detailed” arguments presenting contradictory positions on key facts.
“In the face of conflicts in affidavit evidence and hot disputes on facts, the court cannot unilaterally pick which to choose or believe,” Justice Akinbiyi stated in her ruling.
She cited established legal precedent from the Supreme Court case Atanda & Anor V. Taiwo Akunyum & Ors (1998), which held that “where depositions in affidavits of contesting parties conflict, the court is not allowed to prefer one deposition to the other.”
The judge explained that oral evidence becomes necessary when conflicts involve material facts that cannot be resolved through available documentary evidence alone.
The contention between the applicant and the respondents, as captured in their affidavits and legal briefs, is in hot dispute on material facts. This can only be resolved by both sides calling oral evidence,” she ruled.
Consequently, Justice Akinbiyi ordered all parties to file proper pleadings and prepare to present live testimony to substantiate their claims.
The ruling means the high-stakes dispute over the fertilizer supply contracts will now proceed to a full hearing with witnesses, potentially prolonging the legal battle that has already disrupted the 2025-2026 agricultural season preparations.
