Did the Executive Reintroduce the 2024 Draft Constitution Against National Dialogue Recommendations?
President Barrow at National Dialogue © The Fatu Network
Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT
Finally, almost a year after the First National Dialogue, held from February 12th to 16th, 2024, a report has been released highlighting that the Executive was cautioned to build consensus around the Constitution before its reintroduction in Parliament.
It appears that recommendations and words of caution, even from Chief Justice Hassan B. Jallow, fell on deaf ears. Opposition party leaders denounced the 2024 Draft Constitution for not consulting the people before promulgating it.
After the First National Dialogue, in which President Adama Barrow engaged all political parties and their leaders in February 2024, the 2024 Draft Constitution was eventually Gazetted on 14th August 2024 and finally held its First Reading in Parliament on 23rd December 2024.
The most important national document, which should usher in the Third Republic, is expected to be tabled for its all-important Second Reading in Parliament’s First Ordinary Session of 2025; however, the Minority Caucus is set to reject the 2024 Draft Constitution, mirroring the fate of the 2020 Draft Constitution. Back in September 2020, it was the Minority Caucus aligned with the Executive that rejected the 2020 Draft Constitution.
But the executive had been warned. According to the recently issued report on the First National Dialogue six months before Gazetting the 2024 Draft Constitution, Chief Justice Hassan B. Jallow “reiterated the collective desire for a new constitution but cautioned against reintroducing the same rejected document without addressing the concerns that led to its initial failure. He urged all stakeholders to find common ground before resubmitting the draft to the National Assembly.”
In addition to this, soon after President Adama Barrow’s keynote address, followed by presentations, audience contributions, and a poetry performance, the presentation of six thematic group resolutions was made.
The first recommendation highlighted by the report was on Constitution Reform and National Consensus, which highlighted that “a call was made for a careful review of the rejected 2020 Draft Constitution before any attempt to reintroduce it. Participants emphasised the need to understand the reasons for its rejection, particularly concerning religion, sovereignty, and governance structures, to avoid repeating past mistakes.”
Most importantly, “political parties were urged to build consensus before presenting a revised draft to the National Assembly, with clarity on the term secularism to prevent future misinterpretations.”
Instead of heeding the advice from the National Dialogue, the Executive prepared the 2024 Draft Constitution, which has been widely criticised by political party leaders and civil society leaders for its lack of consultation. It remains to be seen if this decision will eventually cause the 2024 Draft Constitution, which has been widely called the Barrow Papers, to be rejected in Parliament in the first quarter of 2025.
