By: Binta Jaiteh
A representative from Gambia Participates Anita Mohoneyhas urged civil society organisations (CSOs) to examine the 2024 draft constitution clause to clause.
The Centre for Research and Policy Development (CRPD) conducted a data dissemination survey for AFRO BAROMETER, a Pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life. It aims to give the African public a voice in policy and decision-making.
Speaking during a panel discussion, Ms. Mohoney pointed outthat 71% of the population requested a new constitution.
“We definitely need a new constitution. Our organisation has been working around and reuniting the conversation around the constitution process and reform in The Gambia,” she stated.
“We had a position paper and the idea was to look at issues that caused the rejection of the draft constitution in 2020 and what could be done if we had another new constitution before us, ” she added.
According to her, this is a step for civil society to start looking at this matter, especially when it comes to stressing the need for transparency, inclusivity and public engagement.
She argued that there were already talks around the 2024 draft constitution even though some didn’t look at the constitution in-depth.
The AFRO-BAROMETER survey reveals that Gambians demand a new constitution but worry over lack of commitment from political parties.
“The draft constitution has been discredited already, which signals what happened in the past and we don’t want that,” she stated.
The National Investigator of the Center for Policy and Research Development (CRPD), Sait Matty Jaw, also said Gambians expressed strong support for a new constitution but worry about the lack of commitment from political parties.
According to him, two-thirds of Gambians think the rejected 2020 draft constitution should be reintroduced to the National Assembly for amendment while more than half believe the National Assembly was wrong in rejecting the draft.
He indicated that among key amendments that citizens are advocating in a reintroduced constitution is the introduction of presidential term limits, a provision absent from the1997 Constitution, adding that survey findings show strong and consistent public support for imposing a two-term limit on the presidency.
Mr. Jaw pointed out that only minorities believe that the ruling National People’s Party (29%) and the opposition United Democratic Party (34%) are committed to giving the country a new constitution.
“The Afrobarometer team in Gambia, led by the Center for Research and Policy Development, interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,200 adult Gambians in April-May 2024. A sample of this size yields country-level results with a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level,” he explained.
A representative from Fact-Check Gambia Mariama Dansonoted that there is a gap between the government and the citizens because they don’t have enough trust or due to lack of communication.
“Citizens trust their Alkalos and Imams rather than the National Assembly and the President due to lack of communication,” she pointed out.