By Nelson Manneh
The Youth who attended the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) meeting on Saturday the 19th of January 2019, in Dippakunda said the new Constitution should capture citizenship by birth.
They noted that anybody born in the Gambia before the coming into force of the new constitution should be regarded as a citizen.
These youths said there are some people who came to this country not to stay and they happened to have children here.
The asked, “If these children are interested in becoming citizens, they should be given the right to acquire it. If they are rejected to become citizens, where do we expect them to go and acquire their citizenship?”
Fatoumatta Sanyang of Dippakunda said there should be a clause in the new constitution that will capture rape, that anybody found guilty of doing such an act should be sentenced to at least fifteen years in prison.
“The death penalty should not be abolished. Anybody who is found guilty by law should be killed too. Life imprisonment should be applied to those who killed, but not intentionally,” she said.
She added that the Alkaloship and chieftaincy should be left to operate traditionally and should neither be by election or appointment, noting that the Regional Governors, Auditors General, Governor of Central Bank and the top Civil Servants should not be appointed by the president but by the NAMs or a special body.
With regards to the office of the president, NAMs and the Independent Electoral Commission, Kebba Hydara said that the president should not appoint the IEC Chairperson and the commissioners, instead they should be appointed by the NAMs. The level of education of our president and NAMs should be at least an advanced diploma Certificate. He spoke of the need for the education system to be reviewed, but not only to establish a special commission for it,” he said.
Mr. Hydara said the agricultural sector, lands, environment and health should have a special commission to look into their affairs.
The CRC has now completed its consultation of the people in Kanifing Municipality and will continue with the residents of Banjul next weekend.
