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He said the bill would also lay a solid foundation for a democratic and prosperous future for The Gambia.
Speaking at a press conference at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre yesterday, Minister Jallow said: “The Constitution Bill 2024 represents a new attempt to craft a homegrown constitution that can command the necessary support in the National Assembly and be endorsed by the people of The Gambia.”
Recall that the 2024 draft constitution recently released by the government has been criticised by people in The Gambia and abroad, with many describing it as the “Barrow draft constitution”.
The Attorney General stated that following the rejection of the Draft Constitution prepared by the Constitutional Review Commission in September 2020 (“the 2020 Draft”), the Government, through the Ministry of Justice and in partnership with International IDEA, held a series of mediation sessions on the revival of the Draft Constitution of The Gambia.
He disclosed that “since the 2020 draft was deleted, the drafting team of the ministry and IDEA has been working on adjusting the various clauses of the draft constitution and obtaining the consent of various stakeholders.”
Jallow told reporters that IDEA met with President Adama Barrow on January 12, 2021, to brief him on the progress and share ideas on next steps to ensure the revised constitutional document is smoothly passed through parliament and approved in the referendum.
He said IDEA and the ministry engaged with media editors and the leadership of the Gambia Civil Society Transitional Justice Working Group (TJNW, Gender Platform and Youth Forum).
The Attorney General said that during these contacts, they clarified false information about its review process, especially regarding funding and initiatives launched to stimulate support for its work on a new constitution.
He noted that these initiatives include national and community radio programmes with listener call-in participation.
“Overall, significant progress has been made since the mediation began in December 2020. With the support of various international partners, the consultation process has gone through two phases with the goal of reaching consensus on the key controversial issues identified in the draft Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
Jallow noted that the first phase of the mediation took place from December 2020 to March 2021, with the support of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Service and chaired by former President of the Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan.
He added that this phase involved close consultations with political party leaders, civil society organisations, traditional rulers and religious organisations.
Jallow noted that a high-level consultative meeting of political party leaders on the draft constitution for The Gambia was finally held from February 23 to 25, 2021 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria, chaired by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
He noted that the event was aimed at ensuring the party leadership’s commitment to the constitutional process.
The retreat was convened at the initiative of the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of The Gambia and the International Institute for Democratic Elections. Justice Minister Jallow said that the leaders of all political parties in The Gambia, except two, and a representative of the Economic Community of West African States attended the retreat.
He said that in preparation for the consultative meeting in Abuja, the draft constitutional amendment had been circulated to leaders of political parties and civil society for their information, review and further comments before its publication.
He said the purpose of the consultative meeting was for leaders of political parties, the Attorney General and the Minister of Justice to meet with His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to assess the adjustments made to the draft Convention on the Rights of the Child.
He noted that it also provided an opportunity for His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the ECOWAS leadership to encourage party leaders to recommit to bringing the constitutional process to fruition.
“This facilitated Jonathan’s travel to The Gambia after the mediation to meet with leaders of all political parties and address members of the National Assembly,” he said. “By the end of this phase, the parties had reached consensus on 21 of the 24 issues identified and reached an agreement to restart the process after The Gambia’s 2021 electoral cycle.”
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