Morro Gaye, the Gambian economist, has stated that so much has been said about diaspora voting yet so little has been done to bring the vote to Gambians living abroad.
In an opinion commentary made available to this Medium on Thursday, he emphasized that it is not an unfair statement to say that the enfranchisement of non-resident voting by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is still in limbo despite a Supreme Court ruling in January 2021 in favor of five eminent Gambians resident in the UK, US, and South Africa affirming their rights to vote in elections organized in the Gambia.
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The litigants in that lawsuit were Messiers Bakary.B. Darbo, Sidi Sanneh, Cherno Njie, Pa Samba Chow, and Jeggan Grey Johnson as applicants vs. IEC and the Attorney General as defendants.
The Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, reaffirmed their political rights and stated “The systematic and continued disenfranchisement of the Gambians living abroad is illegal and constitutes an assault on their fundamental rights”.
The court cited section 39 of the 1997 constitution which gives them the right to vote in elections organized in the country. Unfortunately, that unprecedented judgment was not enforceable in law as it is only a declaratory judgment, it only declares the existence of their rights to vote in any elections in the country but failed to order the IEC to register all of them in preparation to vote in upcoming elections.
To all indications, there is absolutely no doubt that the electoral body was in full preparation to allow Gambians in the diaspora to start voting in elections organized in the country before the 2021 presidential election. The chairman and four commission members embarked on a study tour in the sub-region to learn from our neighboring countries on the proposed revision of the electoral law and the planned introduction of diaspora voting. That study tour which cost the IEC almost D2 millions of taxpayers’ money took almost a week.
In a related development, a press conference was organized in which the IEC chairman assured Gambians in the diaspora that voter registration will be held between 1st July to 31st July 2021, and that all those living outside the Gambia with valid Gambian passports, genuine ID cards, and official Birth Certificate will be eligible to vote in the 2021 presidential elections as reposted. .