By Kebba AF Touray
The Commission of the Economic Community of the West African State (ECOWAS Commission), in a statement, congratulated the Government of the Gambia on the publication of the draft constitution in the official gazette.
The regional commission made this congratulatory remark in a statement issued on Friday, 16 August 2024.
The commission, in the said statement, expressed that gazetting represent an important milestone in the process of building a new constitution that reflects the aspirations and vision of the Gambian people.
Below is the verbatim statement from the regional commission
“The ECOWAS Commission congratulates the Government of the Republic of the Gambia on the publication of the draft Constitution in the Official Gazette.
The gazetting represents an important milestone in the process of building a new constitution that reflects the aspiration and vision of the Gambian people.
The Commission recognizes that no constitution is perfect. It therefore calls on the government and the people of the Gambia to focus on the greater national interest as they scrutinize the draft document prior to its presentation to a national referendum.
The ECOWAS Commission commends all the stakeholders, including partners, and renews the Community’s commitment to supporting the people of The Gambia as they embark on this important process that will usher in a new dawn for the country”.
The thirst for new constitution for the Gambia, has been making waves both within and outside of the country, since the change of government in 2016, and forms part of the topmost priorities of the current administration in the build up to the 2016 Presidential election.
After assumption of office by the current regime, a commission named Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) was set up, with the mandate to among others draft a new constitution for the third republic, and prepare a report in relation to the constitution.
The CRC was also mandated to review the 1997 constitution of the Republic of the Gambia, by incorporating national values and ethos and safeguard and promote matters such as the existence of The Gambia as a sovereign state. It also advocates the separation of powers, national unity, cohesion and peace, as well as the Gambia’s continued existence as a secular state (in which all faith are treated equally and encouraged to foster national cohesion and unity).
The CRC, did it work by engagement cross sections of the society, to have their views incorporated in the draft constitution, after which it submitted its draft to the President.
The draft constitution, later was tabled before the legislature of the Fifth Assembly of the Republic of the Gambia, but was rejected by the said legislature through a voting, wherein 31 members voted in favor of the draft constitution and 23 members voted against the new draft constitution.
The draft was thus rejected due to its failure to meet the required threshold, as dictated in 226 2(B) and 4(B) of the 1997 constitution.
Subsection 2, subject to section 4 reads, “a bill for an act of the National Assembly under this section that is section 226 shall not be passed by the Assembly or presented to the President for assent unless 2 (B) the bill is supported on the second and third readings by votes of not less than three quarters of all the members of the National Assembly”.
This means that the three quarters of all National Assembly Members is equal to 42 members, and the votes of the legislators supporting the bill fell short of the threshold of 42 members.
Since its rejection, there have been advocacies to bring back the draft constitution from all corners especially within the Gambia. With this latest development, it is hoped that the draft constitution will be given all the blessings to be passed, so that the Gambia can have a new constitution for the third republic.
