The Constitutional Amendments ­ a Prescription for Injustice?

The Independent (Banjul)

OPINION
December 11, 2000

D.A Jawo
Banjul

While many Gambians are disappointed rather than surprised by the decision of
the government to virtually overhaul the 1997 constitution by proposing to amend
38 provisions, including four entrenched clauses, it is however hard to
understand what prompted them to dismantle the very document they had doctored
to their own taste.

Most people have already expressed opposition to their earlier proposal to amend
sections 58 and 59 to give power to President Jammeh to appoint chiefs and
alkalolu instead of them being directly elected by the people, as was
unanimously recommended by the people during the constitutional review.

Therefore, many people are now beginning to question the sincerity of the then
Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) whose members still form the
core of the present regime, in asking the people to participate in the
formulation of the constitution just for them to now decide to change it
completely to suit their own taste.

It is quite obvious that the manipulation of the constitution started from the
very beginning when the draft was submitted to the AFPRC by the Constitutional
Review Commission by removing certain clauses which did not favour the then
AFPRC chairman Captain Yahya Jammeh. Two such clauses were the minimum age limit
of 40 years recommended for a presidential candidate and the maximum two terms
of five years limit for the head of state to serve. Obviously, the age limit was
going to disqualify Yahya Jammeh and as such, they had to remove it before the
draft constitution was passed on to the people for a referendum. Three years on
however, they seem to have found out that many more clauses are not to their
liking, hence their decision to amend them. There appears to be a general
consensus that instead of using the constitution as a sacred document to guide
their actions, they seem to be using it merely to help perpetuate themselves
into power by usurping the power to manipulate the entire governance structure
to their own advantage. It is therefore quite obvious that by the time they are
ready with it, the power of the people to check the excesses of the government
would have been completely eroded. By contrast, the president would become so
powerful that he can legally manipulate and control every aspect of life of this
country. It is for instance quite inconceivable that the president should want
to assume the absolute power to choose for the people who should be their chiefs
and alkalolu instead of allowing them to make their own democratic choices, as
if he alone knows better what is good for the people. Indeed the very
justification they advanced for their proposal to amend sections 58 and 59 has
already been discredited by the peaceful manner that the Sami chieftaincy
elections were held.

The very fact that President Jammeh's choice of a candidate in the election was
rejected by the people of Sami denies him or anyone else the moral right to
claim to know better what is good for the people.

There is no doubt that among the most unpopular proposals is the decision to
amend section 42 and virtually abolish the Independent Electoral Commission and
replace it with an adhoc body with very limited power and independence and which
is only created one year before general elections and disbanded immediately
after that. This is indeed a very retrogressive move, which is very much at
variance with the wishes and aspirations of the people of this country. For
instance if the IEC is disbanded and replaced by an adhoc body with less powers
and a narrow mandate, does it then mean that the government will be directly
responsible for electoral matters in between elections? That is certainly
undemocratic and not acceptable.

Another issue of concern to everybody is the proposal to withdraw the power to
delimit constituency boundaries from the IEC and hand it over to a government
appointed body, which may be prone to manipulation.

Some people attribute this move to the fact that the recent constituency
demarcations conducted by the IEC were not popular in certain quarters of the
regime and therefore it was not a surprise that they had to come up with such a
proposal.

Another proposed amendment that seems to have gone completely against the grain
is the proposal to amend section 63 and let a president-elect to assume office
60 days after his or her election instead of the day following his or her
election. That indeed is a crazy proposal, which makes a mockery of the
realities on the ground. I cannot understand how the Attorney General with all
his legal experience would allow such a provision to be introduced in our
constitution. Why should any elected president have to wait for two months
before assuming office? Let us imagine Hamat Bah, Sidia Jatta or Ousainou Darboe
or any other opposition candidate winning the next presidential elections, does
it really make sense that he has to wait for two months before assuming office?
That is certainly not only unacceptable but a prescription for trouble.

Another possible scenario is that when an unscrupulous person were to be allowed
to remain in office for two months after being defeated in an election, there is
a high possibility that he would not only loot the treasury empty but he would
even sabotage the entire system in order to make the country ungovernable before
handing over to his opponent.

Certainly, common sense dictates that this is a very bad proposal, which should
not be entertained in this country. What would motivate anyone to want to stay
in office for two months after being defeated at the polls unless he or she has
an ulterior motive?

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