By Nelson Manneh
The people of Bakau on Wednesday January 16th 2019, call on members of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), to make provision for the proposed new Constitution to empower the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), by making it independent.
The people contributed that the president should not appoint the Chairperson and other members of the IEC, but should instead be scrutinised by members of the National Assembly, before being appointed.
“If the president appoints the Chairperson of the IEC, he or she must dance to his tune. Otherwise the person can be dismissed by him,” Kaddy Bojang told Commissioners.
Bojang told Commissioners that the president can nominate individuals for the position, who in turn can be scrutinized by NAMs before the person occupies the position. “The IEC office is very sensitive. It needs to be occupied by reliable and qualified Gambians, who are educated, mature and experienced,” she said. On citizenship, the people of Bakau contributed that Gambian citizenship should be acquired by birth. “There are some people working in top offices in the Gambia here particularly in various security outfits such as the Police and the Army, who did not acquire Gambian citizenship by birth. These people can be regarded as non-citizen,” Bojang told Commissioners.
She suggested that the proposed new Constitution should have a clause to indicate that before one is issued documents, the individual should check with the Alkalo of their village for a recommendation letter to indicate that he or she was born in the village.
Ebrima Jammeh a native of Bakau New Town contributed that the proposed new Constitution should make provision for people to recall their National Assembly representatives if the person is not performing in the interest of his or her Constituency and is not participating at the expectation of his or her constituents, in the Assembly.
