By Kebba AF Touray
The National Assembly Tuesday, 19 December 2023, rejected the bill entitled Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2023.
The Bill sought to give nominated members of the councils the power to vote during council matters. This amendment was meant to amplify the voices of nominated councillors so that they could be considered during council meetings.
Yaya Menteng Sanyang, the member for Latrikunda Sabiji tabled the Bill. He said the Bill seeks to give the nominated and elected members of the local councils voting rights as opposed to the 2002 Local Government Act. He said this will ensure that the interests of all Gambians are represented at the local government level.
“The Bill seeks to give nominated councillors and elected members of the local councils voting rights as opposed to the 2002 Local Government Act to ensure that the interests of all Gambians are represented in the local government,” Honourable Sanyang said.
He stated that the Bill also sought to enhance effective representation; as local councils are supposed to represent the interests of residents in their community. He added that the Bill would also enhance effective representation, adding that the local councils are supposed to represent the interests of all residents in their community.
“Giving all members of the council the right to vote helps to ensure that this happens. Participation in decision-making is vital thus giving all members of the council the right to vote encourages greater participation in local government,” he said.
Sanyang stressed the importance of allowing the nominated councillors to vote in the local councils saying it ensures that the council is representative of the community and that its decisions are informed by the views of all residents.
Lawmakers during the debate on the Bill expressed divergent views on the Bill, whereas some supported, others opposed it.
The lawmakers who supported the Bill advanced that the Bill will also allow the nominated members to adequately participate in the democratisation processes and strengthen good governance, and promotion of the rights and interests of businesses, women, differently-abled persons and others.
Some of the lawmakers also said the process of selecting nominated councillors should be done in such a way that the nomination of members is done through proportional representation to ensure that it is equal gender and sectional inclusive.
However, some of the lawmakers also lamented that selection of nominated council members is done based on political party lines.
The lawmakers who opposed the Bill said it could have waited for the current ongoing holistic review of the Local Government Act so that once the review is done it will also take into account the said Bill. They said this will ensure that the Bill is in line with the Act and avert a situation wherein the Bill may contradict the Act once reviewed or avert the amendment in a piecemeal format.
After the debate, the matter was put to vote. 17 voted in favour of the Bill while 27 voted against it. The Bill was rejected at the second reading stage.
