CSOs Raise Concerns on No Consultation on “2024 Draft Constitution”

TANGO Chair - Mrs Yadicon Njie Eribo

By Edward Francis Dalliah and Yusef Taylor

Back in May 2024 the Minister of Justice, Hon Dawda A Jallow announced that a “New Draft Constitution” would be Gazetted in mid-June 2024, however, this eventually occurred on 14th August 2024 and was met with significant public scrutiny.

According to the announcement from the Ministry of Information, the Executive “considered and reviewed the draft constitution that was presented by the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC)” and re-gazetted the New Draft Constitution for eventual tabling before Parliament.

At least D120 million was invested in the CRC to conduct nationwide consultation and in the Diaspora to develop the 2020 Draft Constitution. Eventually the 2020 Draft Constitution was rejected by members of the Fifth Legislature with only 31 members voting in favour while 23 members voted against it and four members refraining including Speaker Mariam Jack Denton and the deceased member for Niamina West, Hon Demba Sowe.

The Draft Constitution needed at least 42 members to vote in favour of the Bill, however, this threshold was not reached.

After the “2024 Draft Constitution” was Gazetted and published online, the public and Civil Society leaders begun reviewing the “2024 Draft Constitution” against the 2020 Draft Constitution prepared by the CRC. Many changes were observed in the “2024 Draft Constitution” with advocates highlighting its numerous deficiencies and lack of transparency in it’s preparation by the Cabinet.

A week after it’s release Civil Society Leaders and Organisations started issuing statements reacting to the “2024 Draft Constitution”.

GBA President - Ms Neneh Cham

The Gambia Bar Association (GBA) is one of the oldest professional bodies in The Gambia, consisting of lawyers enrolled as legal practitioners in the country and an integral component of Civil Society. Reacting to the Government’s 2024 Draft Constitution, the GBA noted that “the decision on the part of the Executive to go ahead with the redrafting and gazetting of the 2024 Bill without consulting other stakeholders, could pose challenges in building national consensus on the most important law of our nation and potentially undermine the legitimacy of the Bill and the process”.

In their view, “the Executive should have informed the public and other stakeholders of the changes they intended to make to the Draft Constitution prior to it being gazetted, for the benefit of the broader public and stakeholder reactions which also the National Assembly can take on board during the legislative process”.

The 2020 Draft Constitution came through the establishment of the CRC in June 2018 which conducted wide spread consultations with Gambians at home and abroad. Eventually, after the 2020 Draft Constitution was prepared, the Centre for Research and Policy Development (CRPD) conducted a survey with Afrobarometer on the public’s perception of the 2020 Draft Constitution prepared by the CRC. According to the Survey 46% of respondents somewhat trust the CRC, while 24% trusted the CRC just a little and 28% didn’t know much to respond.

CRPD Director - Sait Matty Jaw (Afrobarometer Researcher)

The Association of Non Governmental Organisations (TANGO) is the umbrella organisation for all Civil Society and Non Governmental Organisations in the country which released a statement reacting to the 2024 Draft Constitution. In their statement, TANGO noted that they are concerned that “immense powers have been accorded to the Presidency in making appointments of Ministers, heads of public institutions and independent bodies without National Assembly oversight. This arrangement has the effect of creating an imbalance in the power relations between state organs namely the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary [which] will undermine democracy and good governance”.

In addition the TANGO statement highlights the “the incredibly high number of changes and deletions in the 2020 draft as reflected in the 2024 draft without providing any explanations to the citizens”. In their view some of the changes even fail to meet the standards of the 1997 Constitution. To remedy this TANGO recommends that the Government should “urgently engage all stakeholders including political parties and Civil Society to convene a national convergence on the 2024 Draft Constitution to ensure that all Gambians express themselves on the constitution they want”.

They urged “all stakeholders, especially political parties and religious bodies, to prioritize the creation of a constitution that provides a broad and realistic framework which guarantees equality, justice and freedom to all”.

In reaction to public concerns since the 2024 Draft Constitution was Gazetted, the Government issued a statement on 19th August 2024 announcing that “the Minister of Justice will appear in [their] upcoming press conference on 28th August 2024 and participate in the Mansa Kunda [Town Hall] on 13th September 2024 to discuss the Draft Constitution”.

Hon Njai of Banjul Central Responds to Concerns on Draft Constitution at Constituency Dialogue