By Ousman Saidykhan
The Gambia’s Minister of Justice, Dawda A. Jallow, has insisted that the government has held several consultations before re-gazetting the Draft Constitution, which is expected to be tabled before the lawmakers by the end of 2024.
The Barrow government has been at the heart of bedlam since the gazetting of the new Draft Constitution on August 14, with some Gambians calling it a document designed purposely to serve the interests of the president.
“I just want to reiterate that there was the consultative process for the Draft Constitution in the Gambia, which led to significant progress and brought parties closer to an agreement on key issues,” the Justice Minister said during a press conference.
Minister Jallow said reports emanated from consultations, including the political parties meeting in Abuja with Goodluck Johnatan.
This engagement was meant to strike a consensus among political parties on contentious issues in the 2020 Draft Constitution.
“Why would I stand here and face the public and say there were consultations, reviews, clauses were discussed, and changes were effected when that did not happen. What benefit would I get from that?” the minister asked.
This November tabling would be the second time the Barrow government would present a Draft Constitution to the parliament.
The first one, the 2020 Draft Constitution, which was tabled in September 2020, was rejected at the second reading mainly because of the controversial Retroactive Clause, a clause which, if the Draft had passed, would have seen President Barrow running only once after the term he was serving.
The Draft needed at least 42 votes to proceed to the next stage but got the support of just Thirty-one (31) National Assembly Members (NAMs) while Twenty-three (23) three voted against the document.
While some Gambians commend the government for reintroducing the Draft, others think it is an insult to the country and its citizens because of the amendments and deletions of certain provisions and chapters of the original CRC’s 2020 Draft Constitution.
Human rights activist Madi Jobarteh, who refers to the new Draft as the “Barrow Papers,” accused the newly gazetted Draft of being “worse,” comparing it with the 1997 Constitution and the original CRC Draft.
“Not only have the Barrow Papers lowered the bar but also went further to take away critical rights,” the human rights defender said.
However, the Justice Minister said constitution building is complex because it aims to address numerous societal issues in a single document.
“Due to the significant national issues a constitution seeks to tackle, it garners greater attention and contention than ordinary legislations, which usually focus on specific aspects of society,” Jallow said.
Meanwhile, the leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP) warned that the party would not support the Draft if it received any changes. But already, the government has made many amendments to the newly gazetted Draft.
