RESIDENCY RESTRICTION ON COLONIAL GAMBIA CHIEFS

Abstract

Through qualitative analysis the paper examines the soured relationship between Gambian chiefs and their colonial masters and the legal implications of the disciplinary actions the latter meted on the former. By disregarding normal standard legal procedures, the colonial administrators inflicted draconian punishments on chiefs that dare think outside the box. From archival materials, colonial correspondences Colonial Gambia and learned journals publications the paper advanced explanations for the highhandedness of the colonialists which degenerated into residency restrictions imposed on the chiefs, viewed against the legal background of Due Process. The common law court rulings cited to buttress opinions expressed in the paper indicate that colonialism in The Gambia remained a case of the strong exerting control over the weak that had no option but to put up with the inevitable consequences of colonial rule.