By Tabora Bojang
As the debate over the new draft constitution rages on, another prominent lawyer Lamin J Darbo has said government does not have the mandate to unilaterally insert changes and by doing so, it has seriously flouted the document with no broader political or social consensus.
Speaking on the QTV, Lawyer J Darbo said the mechanism used by the government to bring back the draft constitution begs questions over its method of governance, respect for due processes and rule of law.
“There is no mechanism for the government to do what it did. They don’t have the mandate. The draft is not a government document. It was submitted to the president in accordance with the CRC Act but it does not belong to the government. It belongs to the people of The Gambia. So, they needed to consult and engage with the key players like the civic society and more importantly the political parties especially parties with representation in the National Assembly. They should have brought them onboard and engaged with them because at the end of the day, you are going to need their MPs to support this draft. Sometimes it is easier to resolve a dispute behind the scenes rather than through an open fight. So, it is not a document that the cabinet should unilaterally deal with,” Darbo argued.
He said following the rejection of the draft constitution in 2020, the document therefore becomes a national document that does not belong to the government but the people.
The lawyer however, stated that he will go with the 2024 draft as opposed to the 2020 draft, saying “if you can support the 2020 draft, I think you can support this 2024 draft.”
Darbo maintained that both drafts fail to meet his standards when it comes to their bulkiness.
“There is no need for a constitution to be that lengthy. There are huge sections in all these documents that do not belong in a national constitution,” he added.
