The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) is established under the Constitutional Review Commission Act, 2017 (“the Act”). Its mandate is to: review the 1997 Constitution and draft a new Constitution for The Gambia; and prepare a report in respect of the new Constitution.
The Act empowers the CRC under section 11 to establish technical committees, with each technical committee being chaired by a Commissioner, to facilitate and assist with the work of the CRC. In line with that provision, five (5) technical Committees have been established, three (3) of which have already been inaugurated and their members have subscribed to an oath of confidentiality before the Chairperson of the CRC in accordance with the terms of the Act. The established technical committees are: Public Finance Management, chaired by Commissioner Fatoumata Jallow and assisted by Commissioner Salimatta Touray; Land, Environment and Natural Resources, chaired by Commissioner Lamin Camara and assisted by Commissioner Dr. Melville George; Media, Public Education and Communication, chaired by Commissioner Amie Joof-Cole and assisted by Commissioner Yankuba Dibba. The remaining two technical committees, namely: Committee of Experts on Constitutional Law, chaired by Hawa Kuru Ceesay-Sabally (Vice-Chairperson of the CRC) and Constitution Drafting and Report Writing Technical Committee, chaired by Commissioner Janet Sallah-Njie, will be launched in due course.
Gambians with appropriate educational qualifications and experience have been appointed to serve on the Technical Committees. The Public Finance Management Technical Committee has as its members the following prominent Gambians: Alhaji T.S. Alieu Njie; Alpha Amadou Barry; Mamour Jagne; Anthony Ademola Taylor and Momodou Ceesay.
Similarly, the following people have been appointed to serve on the Technical Committee on Media, Public Education and Communication: Sering Fye; Mamanding Kuyateh; Emil Touray; Omar Wally and Demba Kandeh. The Land, Environment and Natural Resources Technical Committee comprises the following experts: Momodou Badou Sarr; Ndey Sireng Jobarteh Bakurin; Dr. Raymond Jatta; Lamin Comma and Gallo Saidy.
The role of the technical committees is to assist the Commission to identify constitutional related issues from an experts’ perspective and to make recommendations on what specific matters to capture in the new Constitution and how key oversight institutions can be strengthened to promote good governance in The Gambia. In that context, the CRC will refer specific matters to the technical committees to review, research and provide recommendations on. This process, in addition to the public consultations (oral and written), is designed to ensure that the CRC has the benefit of the full range of opinion and expertise in making objective assessments on matters that should be incorporated into the new Constitution. The CRC will ultimately determine the drafting instructions to be relied upon by the Constitution Drafting and Report Writing Technical Committee in drafting the new Constitution and the accompanying report on behalf of the CRC.
The inaugurated technical committees will be in place for a period of three (3) months, with the possibility of an extension where, in any particular case, the CRC considers that necessary.
Issued by the CRC Communications Department