By: Kemo Kanyi
Veteran journalist and commentator on pressing national issues Demba Ali Jawohas called for an overhaul of the IEC in the areas of staffing and technical capacity before the next electoral cycle, adding that the commission’s chairman Alieu Momar Njai should be retired before the fast-approaching electoral cycle.
“Obviously, the IEC needs serious revamping both in terms of staffing and technical capacity before the next electoral cycle, which of course should include the replacement of its senile chairman, Alieu Momar Njai,” D.A wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.
Mr. Jawo said everyone commended Chairman Njai for the positive role that he played in the 2016 presidential elections, which led to the defeat of former President Yahya Jammeh. However, D.A said Njai seems to have overstayed his welcome.
“Many people had pointed out that his term as chairman came to an end more than five years ago but he had always succeeded in shifting the goalposts every time the issue is raised. However, as someone suggested, he certainly needs to call it a day before he soils the good name and reputation that he had earned over the period that he had occupied the position,” he stated.
According to D.A, the IEC has failed to indicate any positive signs for hitch-free elections barely two years to the elections.
“We now have barely two years to go before the commencement of the next electoral cycle, beginning with the presidential elections not later than December 2026, and yet, there is hardly any visible movement on the side of the IEC to indicate that they have taken adequate steps to conduct hitch-free elections when the time comes,” the veteran journalist observed.
He pointed out that the commission should do many things to effectively carry out its mandate.
“Apart from the need to update the electoral roll, we have also been promised a transition from the moribund marble system of voting to a paper ballot, which, of course, needs quite a lot of preparation.The very fact that The Gambia is still the only country in the whole wide world of more than 200 countries still using the outdated marble voting system in our elections seems to show our unwillingness to embrace modernity. It certainly does not make any sense to assume that we are right and everyone else is wrong,” argued Jawo. He continued: “With all those things that need to be done, it would be quite foolhardy for the Commission to wait until a few months before the elections before they would attempt to introduce such vital reforms.”
He highlighted the concerns of Gambians over enfranchisement.
“Similarly, most people also expect adequate steps to be taken to ensure that the vote is extended to Gambians in the diaspora, and that also requires adequate preparations, which include incorporating them in the electoral register,” stated Jawo.
He urged the IEC to address the issue of\demographic disparity of electoral constituencies in the country.