Foroyaa published two supplements on the constitution building process. We emphasized that the Draft Constitution of the CRC is dead and pointed out the way the constitution building process should proceed through a consultative mechanism. The publications are still available for scrutiny.
The first is dated 23rd August, 2023 and the second is dated 31st October, 2023. Foroyaa continued to draw the attention of the government to the two publications authored by Halifa Sallah, who claimed that the time of the nation is being wasted by calling political parties and civil society organizations to meetings on a draft Constitution of the CRC that he said was dead.
Since the date of the first publication, not a single political party or civil society organization wrote to support or refute the conclusions and proposals made in the publication. The government was left to have a free hand to use the dead draft Constitution as a working document to prepare its own new draft for promulgation without the consultative mechanism proposed in the Foroyaa publication.
In order not to waste the time of the nation a second time, Gambians must accept that a Constitution (Promulgation) Bill is to be laid at the National Assembly for the first reading after it has been published in the Gazette twice, for at least three months in the first instance and not less than ten days in the second instance.
For lack of a better name Foroyaa will dub it as the Barrow Administration Draft Constitution. It is the duty of the National Assembly members to understand the content of the Barrow Administration Draft Constitution (BADC) since they will have the duty to scrutinize the content on behalf of the nation at the Committee stage. To avoid the pitfalls of the CRC Draft Constitution, the National Assembly members should know that they are only to discuss the principles behind the introduction of the Barrow Administration Draft Constitution during the session for the second reading to allow the Bill to pass to the Committee stage with three quarters majority vote.
Foroyaa will accompany the nation as we begin the legislative aspect of the constitution building process before a referendum if the legislators so decide with a three-quarters majority at the third reading. It is the right of every Gambian to criticize the failed consultative processes before we arrive at the final phase.
The draft Constitution which is alive for Gambians to consider is the Barrow Administration Draft Constitution. This is how matters stand.
