By Isatou Sarr
Justice Sonia Akinbiyi K.J.W. of the Banjul High Court Annex on Monday ordered parties in a civil suit to deposit a total of D115,000 with the Principal Registrar of the High Court as a condition for a stay of execution pending appeal.
The ruling arose in a case between Jollof Events Limited, the plaintiff/respondent, and Rahman Gambia Limited, the defendant/appellant. The defendant had applied to halt the enforcement of a July 17, 2025 judgment.
The motion on notice, filed on October 24, 2025, requested that the court stay execution of the judgment pending appeal. In the alternative, the defendant sought an injunction preventing the respondent from selling, transferring, or encumbering any of the defendant’s properties while the appeal is pending.
In her ruling, Justice Sonia reiterated that a successful litigant should not ordinarily be deprived of the benefits of a judgment unless exceptional circumstances are demonstrated.
“The guiding principle is that a victorious party must not be deprived of the fruits of his victory and, under normal circumstances, ought to be allowed to execute the judgment,” the judge stated.
Justice Sonia referred to the case of Vaswani Trading Co. Ltd v. Savalakh (1972) All NLR 483, noting that while the category of “special circumstances” is broad, the mere existence of an arguable appeal is insufficient to justify a stay of execution.
The court found that the applicant’s grounds—existence of an arguable appeal, risk of the appeal being rendered nugatory, and the balance of convenience favoring the applicant—were generally weak, except for the concern of irreversible loss of property.
Balancing the interests of both parties, the court granted a conditional stay of execution. The appellant was ordered to deposit D80,000 as the outstanding contract balance, D30,000 for legal and administrative fees, and D5,000 as previously awarded costs, totaling D115,000.
The funds must be deposited with the Principal Registrar of the High Court within two weeks and will be held in safekeeping pending the outcome of the appeal. Justice Sonia warned that failure to comply would result in the automatic lapse of the stay.