with the provisions of Article 4(1) cited above, and since his name no more
appeared on the electoral roll, Mr. Karim Meissa Wade could not obtain the new
ECOWAS electronic biometric voter’s card.
That all the same, the extraordinary revision of the electoral roll for the
presidential elections of 24 February 2019, decided via Law No. 2018-476 of 20
February 2018, notably gave the opportunity to all Senegalese whose names
were still not found in the voter’s register to apply to have their names
registered;
That Mr. Karim Meissa Wade, like any other interested citizen, went before the
administrative commission of the Senegalese Embassy in Kuwait and requested
for the issuance of the ECOWAS identity card and the voter’s card; that in the
course of processing the data for the revised electoral roll, certain names were
rejected and the application of Mr. Karim Meissa Wade for his name to be
registered on the electoral roll was rejected on the basis of Article L31 of the
Electoral Code; that in its Article 11(2), Law No. 2018-476 on the extraordinary
revision of the electoral list for the purposes of the presidential election of 24
February 2019, provided that that the time limit for receiving complaints relating
to the final list thus drawn up was fifteen (15) days starting from 3 July 2018 and
that: “From 3 July 2018, to reclaim his rights, any voter omitted or a victim of a
purely technical error of his registration, and in possession of his receipt, shall
have fifteen (15) days to report the matter directly or through the CENA or the
Presiding Judge in his area of jurisdiction, or through the Head of Diplomatic
Mission or Consulate, if he resides outside Senegal”.
That in the case of Mr. Karim Meissa Wade, who resides in Qatar, and who
applied in Kuwait for his name to be registered on the electoral roll, he rather
chose to bring his case before the Tribunal d’Instance Hors Classe (TIHC) of
Dakar, whose jurisdiction covers the administrative zones of Dakar and Rufisque
only, instead of complaining to His Excellency the Ambassador of Senegal in
Kuwait.
That the said court therefore declined jurisdiction to hear the case in an order
made on 23 July 2018, which decision he appealed by filing an application before
the Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court of Senegal, seeking to quash
the earlier decision made by TIHC of Dakar; that his application was dismissed in
a Supreme Court judgment dated 30 August 2018; that upon his application
having been thrown out, he brought his case before the ECOWAS Court of
Justice for violation of his right to vote, his right of eligibility to stand for
elections, and his right to effective remedy.
Translator: E. Nkansah 7