By Nelson Manneh
The people of Brufut village on Tuesday January 8th 2019, stood firm in support of the establishment of a Lands, Agriculture and Education Commissions, for the benefit of the citizenry.
The villagers made several comments when members of the CRC asked them to make proposals on whether they would like to see the establishment of other Commissions in the proposed new Constitution.
Seedy Jawara a native of Brufut village, said the majority of Gambians are farmers and the new Constitution should make provision for such Commissions to look at their affairs.
“If there are Commissions to look at the affairs of certain areas like our forest, lands and education sectors, this will help to improve them,” he said. Jawara in his contributions on citizenship, said there should be classes of citizenship for people who come to this country not to contest for certain positions. “Yes, other nationalities can be regarded as citizens but should not contest for certain positions,” he said.
Manyima Cham in her contributions, said the death penalty should be replaced with life imprisonment; that whether one kills an individual intentionally or not, one should be jailed for the rest of one’s life. “Prisoners and diaspora Gambians should have the right to vote despite their conditions. They are Gambian citizens and should have the right to vote,” she said.
On public office appointments, Ms Cham said Alkalos and Chiefs should neither be elected, nor appointed; that instead, this should be left to tradition. “The Governor, Auditor General and the IEC Chairperson should not be appointed by the President. There should be a special Commission to appointment them. The president can do the nomination, but their appointment should be scrutinized before they are accepted. Cham said the proposed new Constitution should include term limit to the Presidency and the position of the IEC Chairperson.
