By Nelson Manneh
The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) has in a press release issued on Wednesday December 18th 2019 extended the deadline for submission of comments on the Draft new Constitution from the citizenry.
“We wish to thank all those who attended and participated in the CRC’s direct face-to-face public consultations around the country or submitted their written contributions,” the release stated; that the CRC is equally grateful to those persons who have arranged and/or participated in other forms of public discussion to create awareness regarding the provisions of the new Draft Constitution.
“The CRC also recognizes the expressions of support for the Draft Constitution from the general public. In addition, the CRC is enormously grateful to Media Houses and practitioners for keeping the spirit of the Media-CRC partnership active and true to form,” the release added.
The CRC assures the general public that the opinions received will be properly reviewed and factored as appropriate in finalizing the Draft Constitution; that furthermore, the CRC wishes to announce that due to the numerous requests it has received to extend the period of public consultations on the Draft Constitution, it has now extended the period on public consultations to Tuesday December 31st 2019; that all persons wishing to make written contributions to the CRC, are encouraged to do so not later than 2:00 pm on the stated deadline for submission. The release asserts that no further written contributions will be received beyond the stated deadline.
The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), was tasked by Government to review the current 1997 Constitution and come up with a new one for Gambians, that will stand the test of time. The 1997 Constitution suffered several amendments by the former regime of Yaya Jammeh and therefore an Act of the National Assembly was passed to empower the Commission to come up with a new draft Constitution. The Commission has 18 months to review, draft and deliver a new Constitution for Gambians.
After drafting the Constitution, the CRC embarked on a nationwide tour to seek the opinion of the general public on the draft Constitution.
They sought the opinion of the public and called on individuals to send in their comments to the CRC on the draft Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia before submission.
