Where is Our Constitution? http://allafrica.com/stories/200305020006.html The Independent (Banjul) EDITORIAL May 2, 2003 Posted to the web May 2, 2003 Banjul This is not a rhetorical question. Far from it. It is dictated by thought- provoking facts and mitigating circumstances of the current political and legal environment in The Gambia where certain actions by the establishment are not explained and sometimes go sadly unnoticed. A constitution is the supreme law of every land and it encapsulates in legal terms the values by which every society agrees to run its affairs and set its framework in tandem with the principles of governance. The source of all power in a state derives their validity from the constitution, which to put it mildly is a very important document whose importance requires certainty of its contents, it's availability and accessibility. Increasingly, it is becoming difficult to determine with any degree of certainty what or where is the authentic text of the 1997 constitution of the Republic of The Gambia. In the year 2000 when the Supreme Court was hearing the case of the UDP and others vs. the Attorney General concerning the constitutionality of the removal of Bishop Solomon T. Johnson as the chairman of the IEC the question was raised by counsel as to whether the text of the constitution that was then being used accurately reflected in language, punctuation and format the original text of the 1997 constitution. The clerk of the National Assembly was summoned to appear in the Supreme Court to produce the constitution of the Gambia. He did appear and produced a document titled, "Draft constitution of the Republic of The Gambia" and claimed that this was the document being used in the National Assembly, which he said did not have as it normally should, the original and signed copy of the constitution nor did he knew where that copy should be located. The issue was not pursued further in court for legal technical reasons and the courts never pronounced on it. But the issue is yet to be determined. It has now been compounded by the appearance of a newly printed 1997 constitution of the Republic of the Gambia. It is with pink covers bearing imprints of a National Printing and Stationery Corporation. This pink version does not appear to pass the test of validity and authenticity, and the manner in which it suddenly appeared betrays a lot about the real motives of the architects. It might be a litmus test for them to see if they can get away with perhaps other amendments probably in the offing. But the simple fact is that there is nothing under the sun capable of justifying the unexplained departure from established procedures relating to constitutional amendments, which were made to the original document without justifiable reason based on law and the consent of the people. Readers will recall that in the case of Kemesseng Jammeh Vs. the Attorney General two years ago, the Supreme Court upheld that the provision Act No 6/2001 purporting to amend the constitution to make The Gambia a secular state and also the provision purporting to alter the clause in the constitution indemnifying members of the former AFPRC were unconstitutional, invalid, void and of no affect. But in expressed contempt of the Supreme Court the government was undeterred. It proceeded to delete those provisions from the text of Act No 6 of 2001. To the surprise and consternation of members of the legal fraternity and others with genuine concern with the state of the Judiciary, this new pink version printed well after the Kemesseng case now contains these so called amendments which the Supreme Court had earlier ruled as invalid and unconstitutional and struck out of the laws of the Gambia. This defective pink document continues to be officially circulated instead of being withdrawn for rectifications. Did this situation arise because of official contempt for the Supreme Court as well as for the constitution? Or is it a highly regrettable case of sheer incompetence on the part of the state law office. Whatever it is, the failure to take remedial measures is a matter of grave national concern as it still leaves Gambians who can read between the lines, wondering where indeed is the authentic text of the 1997constitution that we had all voted for in a referendum. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~