By Mustapha K. Darboe
Gambians wanted change and the leaders promised just that before the ballots in 2016.
The country, which has suffered a 22-year brutal dictatorship, was on course, albeit very slowly, when a draft constitution was produced four years later.
In 2020, the Gambia failed in an attempt to get a new supreme law (constitution). However, sonner had the 2020 Draft Constitution arrived in the National Assembly (parliament) than it was killed by lawmakers allied to the President who voted against it – mainly over a retroactive clause on presidential term limit.
The Gambia is trying again to get a new one passed into law next year, with criticisms that the process was neither consultative nor does it “represnt the views and aspirations of Gambians”.Timelines of Gambia’s Constitutional Process
- In March, 2018, the Gambian lawmakers passed a law establishing the Constitutional Review Commission.
- In March 2020, the CRC submitted a copy of the new draft constitution to the President Adama Barrow
- In September 2020, the draft was rejected by 23 lawmakers— failing to secure backing of 75% of the elected representatives
Reasons for its death
There were at least 24 contentious issues identified in the 2020 draft constitution:
- Counting president’s first term — 2017 to 2021— among his 2 terms
- Declaring Gambia a secular state
- Citizenship
- Parliamentary approval of appointment of ministers
- Independence of the Office of the Inspector General
- ‘Lack of clarity’ of marriage interpreted to legitimise the gay marriage
A second attempt to getting a new constitution
- In 2021, Gambian politicians participated in talks chaired by former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan meant to reconcile their differences.
- In 2023— Muhammed Ibn Chambas— United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West and the Sahel chaired another discussion between Gambian politicians to reconcile their differences.
- On August 14, 2024, the government re-gazetted the 2024 draft constitution after it was drafted by the Ministry of Justice and approved by the Cabinet
- The section 226 (2) of the 1997 constitution requires the bill to be published in at least two issues of the Gazette, the latest publication being not less than 3 months after the first and, that the Bill is introduced in the NA not earlier than 10 days after the latest publication.
- The parliament is expected to sit over the 2024 draft after the gazette. It will require 75% of votes to pass.
- The draft constitution, passed through parliament, will require 75% of votes of the Gambian people to pass as a new constitution.
Amendments made to the 2020 draft
- The explanatory note on the amendments made to the 2020 draft constitution was published by the Ministry of Justice on August 30, 2024.
- At least 125 amendments were made to the 2020 draft constitution.
Publicly known positions of major political players
| No political party currently holds an absolute majority or 75% as the required number of votes to give the draft constitution a pass. The ruling NPP has 18 lawmakers, UDP has 15 with one sponsored independent candidate, NRP has 4, APRC 2, PDOIS 2 and 11 independents, five of which are a faction of the former ruling APRC party. | |
| National People’s Party
| The NPP— as was President Adama’s Cabinet— opposed a large part of the 2020 draft but supports the 2024 draft which was approved by the Cabinet. |
| United Democratic Party | The UDP wanted the 2020 draft to pass untouched but said they had found the 2024 draft “unacceptable”. |
| National Reconciliation Party | A coalition partner of the NPP, the NRP voted against the 2020 draft and though it is yet to issue an official position on the draft, party’s leader is a member of the cabinet that produced the 2024 draft |
| Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction Party | The official position of the APRC is against the 2020 draft but the party has since forged alliance with Barrow’s NPP whose cabinet produced the 2024 draft |
| People Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism | The PDOIS has supported the 2020 draft and except highlighting procedural issues the Party believes ought to be followed to get a new constitution, it has not raised any objection to the 2024 draft. |
| Independents | The 11 independents, including a splinter faction of the APRC, have not publicly made their positions clear on the 2024 draft yet. But the default position of the APRC ‘no to alliance’ group has been in support of the 1997 constitution. |
