By Omar Bah
Gambia Participates, a leading civil society organisation and voice against corruption, has recommended that the National Assembly develop a campaign financing law to address the country’s lack of regulation in this area.
Currently, The Gambia does not have laws governing campaign finance, leaving political parties and candidates to fund their campaigns with minimal oversight. This has led to issues such as vote-buying, lack of transparency and an uneven playing field, particularly for disadvantageous women and financially weak candidates.
The absence of public funding for political parties and the lack of spending limits exacerbates these challenges. Even though by law, political parties are required to submit audited financial reports to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), enforcement is weak. Additionally, there are no requirements for individual candidates to disclose campaign spending or funding sources.
Concerned about these unchecked irregularities, Gambia Participates and the Election Watch Committee (CWC) in a joint statement on the just concluded Massembeh councillor by-election, recommended that introducing a campaign finance law could enhance transparency, regulate spending, and create a more equitable electoral process.
“We recommend that through consultation, the Assembly should develop a Campaign Financing law that will explicitly regulate campaign financing to ensure credibility and accountability of the electoral process. The law should consider giving the Anti-Corruption Commission the jurisdiction to regulate, ensure compliance and accountability in campaign financing,” the statement said.
It added that the expansion of the scope of vote buying and community developments that are election-centric (close to Election Day) and the auditing and publication of party/candidate campaign financial statements, should be included in the proposed Campaign Financing law.
Vote buying
The CSOs recommended that political parties abstain from vote buying and voter inducement as both are punishable under the laws of The Gambia.
“Politicians should also abstain from making hate speech during and after the electoral cycle,’’ the CSOs said, while calling on the National Assembly to prioritise legislative and constitutional reform as well as expedite the Elections Bill, 2020 .
Media
The CSOs urged the media to continue to demonstrate professionalism in its reporting and ensuring citizens continue to receive accurate information about the election process.
“Journalists and media organisations should be politically neutral and adhere to the GPU code of conducts,’’ the CSOs advised.
Police
About the police, CSO’s commend the professionalism and neutrality of security personnel in dealing with election-related matters, but urged them to be on extra alert to minimise the occurrence of electoral violence.
Massembeh by-election
Having observed the by-election in Massembeh ward, both Gambia Participates and EWC concluded that the outcome of the election reflected the will of voters there and that the process was transparent, free, and fair. ‘’Although there were critical incidents, however, these incidents were isolated and did not thwart the will of the voters,” the CSO’s concluded.
