By Kebba AF Touray
The Minister of Justice, Dawda Jallow, is scheduled to introduce the 2024 promulgation bill during the Fourth Ordinary Session of the National Assembly on Monday, 23 December 2024.
This development, disclosed by the Office of the Clerk in the order paper for Monday, revealed that the said bill is expected to be introduced by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Dawda Jallow, for the first reading.
“In line with standing Order 65, the Justice Minister will introduce the first reading of the constitution of the Republic of the Gambia (Promulgation) Bill, 2024,” the Office of the Clerk of the National Assembly indicated.
The Minister of Justice Jallow was scheduled to introduce the bill for the first reading on Wednesday 27th November 2024, but did not materialize, which has been attributed to the engagement with notably Ibn Chambers to reach on lack of political understanding and consensus on retrogressive clauses in the draft.
Gambians have been calling for a new constitution that will usher the Gambia into the Third Republic, which has been a key campaign promise of the coalition 2016.
The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) was established through the Constitutional Review Commission Act passed on 13 December 2017 by the National Assembly and assented to by the president on 13 January 2018.
The commission was established to draft and guide the process of promulgating a new Constitution. The CRC released a draft for comment in November 2019 and published its final draft in December 2019.
The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) on Monday, 31st March 2020, submitted the final draft constitution to President Adama Barrow at the State House in Banjul.
President Adama Barrow commended the Commission for fulfilling its mandate of drafting a new constitution for the country.
“This exercise was to provide Gambians with the constitutional framework to enjoy their rights as citizens of the country. This springs off from the belief that every Gambian should comfortably relate to the Constitution and that our institutions must be structured for sustained performance,” President Barrow said on the occasion.
He added that the draft Constitution has generated a lot of debate from different interest groups, but the nation should be able to unite on the basic principles of human rights, institutional accountability, respect for the rule of law, and the dignity of the person.
The Draft Constitution of the Gambia was tabled before Members of the National Assembly (NAMs) by the Minister of Justice Dawda Jallow for the first reading at the chambers in Banjul on Monday, 14th September 2020.
The lawmakers debated on the bill for 3 days. During an intensive but captivating debate, members of the assembly expressed divergent opinions on the document.
Some lawmakers supported the document because it contains the will and aspirations of the people and described it as the best constitution since the Gambia attained nationhood.
Others said the draft constitution contains lots of irregularities and unclear issues, with some advancing views that the draft constitution is a carbon copy of the Kenyan constitution of 2010.
The debate continued and concluded on Tuesday, 22 September 2020. Subsequently, the Speaker put the matter to a vote for the bill to proceed to the third stage.
The draft constitution was thrown into the dustbin when 31 voted in favor (55 percent), 23 (40 percent) voted against the draft constitution, while some abstained.
Since then, efforts continued to be made to ensure that the bill is brought back to the parliament.
Today, Monday 23rd December 2024, the Justice Minister, is scheduled to introduce bill for the first reading.
The second reading of the bill is anticipated to be held in the 2025 legislative year, as today Monday the 23rd marks the end of the last or fourth ordinary session of the 2024 legislative year.
