By Lamin Cham
The much-talked about final draft constitution will reach the National Assembly in August, a statement from State House revealed yesterday.
The draft was presented to President Barrow in March and since then, politicians and civil society organisations have been calling for it to be presented to the National Assembly as soon as possible to allow more time to prepare for a referendum.
Some opposition politicians even accused Mr Barrow of trying to use the Covid-19 pandemic to delay the process.
However last night,State House issued a statement to explain that: “As required by the Constitutional Review Commission Act 2018, His Excellency, President Adama Barrow having received the Draft Constitution on 30th March 2020, the Ministry of Justice will publish the national document in the Gazette before the end of May 2020, before it is subsequently presented to the National Assembly in August 2020.
It could be recalled that in June 2018, President Barrow inaugurated a Constitutional Review Commission to undertake a review of the 1997 Constitution and to come up with a proposed Draft that will be subjected to a referendum and usher in a Third Republic for The Gambia.
The Office of the President therefore assures the pubic that the due processes will be followed in strengthening our democracy.”
