By Omar Bah
Lawyer and former president of the Gambia Bar Association, Salieu Taal, has said the 2024 draft constitution produced by the executive could potentially lead to another dictatorship.
The Gambia’s constitutional reform process has faced significant setbacks, particularly with the rejection of the 2020 draft constitution by the National Assembly.
This draft has been packaged to replace the much-amended 1997 Constitution and included key democratic reforms, such as presidential term limit and enhanced rights for marginalised groups.
The country’s aspiration for a new constitution was rejected on 22 September, 2022 by 23 NAMs aligned with President Barrow. The 2020 bill was killed at the second reading which is the stage where the principles of the bill are discussed. It was not given a chance to breathe. It failed to secure the necessary three-quarters majority, with only 31 votes in favour against 23 opposed, primarily due to concerns from ruling party members about limiting executive power and retroactive term limits for President Barrow.
In a write-up share with The Standard, Taal said the executive dusted the rejected 2020 draft and repackaged it without consulting other stakeholders and that is why they label it “The Barrow Draft 2024″.
“The Barrow Draft raises a lot of questions about this government’s intent and seriousness about replacing the Jammeh-era system. The 2024 draft is a radical departure from the 2020 rejected bill which was a people-centered constitution to the 2024 draft which maintains excessive presidential powers, potentially leading to another era of authoritarian rule,” he said.
The executive and their supporters at the National Assembly, he added, rejected a document that gave more power to the citizenry and National Assembly to hold the executive accountable and are now presenting a draft [2024 ] that will maintain the Jammeh era presidential powers.
“Gambians must be vigilant and ensure that the new constitution truly reflects their desire for a democratic and accountable government. It’s disheartening to say, but Jammeh is still here, the Jammeh-era system is being rebuilt. Jammeh-era people are at the heart of government influencing our country’s trajectory. Is this The Gambia we decided? ” he added.
He said on 1 December, 2016, Gambians voted out a dictator who had ruled the country for 22 years and that during the period, the constitution was manipulated over 50 times by a rubber-stamp parliament.
Taal said despite having a constitution and three branches of government, power was concentrated in the hands of the president, effectively making him the state.
“We were governed by presidential directives, not by the rule of law. Some individuals, who were central to this oppressive system, are now in positions of power within the current government,” Taal said.
He added that the 1997 Constitution and criminal code, remnants of the Jammeh era, remain in effect.
“The National Assembly, led by a speaker from the same era, recently ruled to allow the minister of finance to lay a budget estimates for 2025 against expressed mandatory provisions of the constitution. The minister presented the budget outside the constitutionally-mandated timeframe, and the minister of justice, the de facto leader of the bar, has remained silent in the face of these blatant constitutional violations. The legal profession, too, has been conspicuously quiet. Where are we heading to? Are we all captured or tired or suffer from amnesia or indifferent?” he questioned.
