Fatoumatta K. Jallow
Mr. Cherno Jallow, head of Insight Training Institute, has described voting as a political right of every citizen in the Gambia.
Mr. Jallow was speaking while delivering a presentation at a two-day orientation and message development workshop on voter education organized by Media Agenda
The meeting which was held at the TANGO Conference Hall from the 24th to 25th August, 2016, was attended by 30 participants from the print and electronic media sponsored by the U.S Embassy in Banjul.
“The constitution is quite clear that voting is a political right of every citizen of the Gambia of full age and capacity,” he added.
He said exercising this right is the sovereign will of the Gambian people in whose name the power and authority to govern are derived. “This sovereign will to run the affairs of the state is exercised periodically by the people at presidential, legislative and municipal elections,” Jallow added.
He said voting is therefore a demonstration of people’s power or democracy in action. By voting, he noted, the voter is exercising his/her right or franchise as a stakeholder in the national agenda.
“Hence, the higher the voter turnout, the more legitimate the results of the elections and therefore the higher the mandate of the people,” said Mr. Jallow.
Mr. Jallow described voting as an evidence of citizenship status. “And your vote will determine the fate of your country for the next five years and your vote is the authority by which duty-bearers hold office,” he said.
