Abdoulie O. Bah, the Rapporteur for Gambia Participates’ position paper (Photo credit: ASKANWI)
By Fatou Sillah
Gambia Participates convened a stakeholder roundtable discussion on Friday to review its position paper on the 2024 Draft Constitution. Held at a hotel in Kololi, the event brought together civil society organizations (CSOs) to share their perspectives, engage in constructive dialogue, and provide collective input on the draft constitution.
The discussions focused on key provisions of the draft, tackling contentious issues and exploring pathways to advance the constitutional reform process. Participants emphasized the importance of an inclusive and consultative approach to ensure the draft constitution reflects the aspirations of all Gambians.
In its position paper, Gambia Participates commended the government for reviving the constitutional reform process by publishing the 2024 Draft Constitution Bill. However, the organization expressed concerns over a perceived lack of inclusivity and public participation—issues that have drawn criticism from CSOs and other stakeholders.
Abdoulie O. Bah, Rapporteur for Gambia Participates’ position paper, presented the findings from the organization’s comprehensive review, which was informed by a week-long consultation with civil society groups. He noted that the position paper aims to offer constructive recommendations for the ongoing discourse on constitutional reform.
“Generally the process brought together, different set of people, religious leaders, Media, Civil Society Organizations to be able to make recommendations on the 2024 draft that will be incorporated to ensure the document is a reflection of the constitution The Gambian people want. So mainly this was the process that we had, and it was championed and pioneered by the Gambia Participates,” he said.
Annette Mahoney, Programs Manager at the Gambia Participates, stressed the need for broad stakeholder engagement in the constitutional reform process. She urged National Assembly Members (NAMs) to critically examine contentious clauses in the 2024 Draft Constitution and prioritize inclusive governance.
“We here to discuss a position paper that was developed after a five-day comparative review exercise that we did with civil society members. Developing a position paper on the 2024 draft constitution to look at key areas, like areas of contention and deliberate on it, forge ways forward in the constitutional reform process in The Gambia because we know that since the gazetting of the 2024 draft, there has been divergent views, and it has the role towards moving forward has been very blurry and this is the reason we have brought in key stakeholders to discuss around the 2025 draft, to find meaningful ways to forge ahead,”
Muhammed MS Bah, outgoing President of the Gambia Press Union, also shared his expectations for the 2024 Draft Constitution.
“My expectation is to allow an inclusive process at the National Assembly, because we don’t want to have a similar situation like the 2020 constitutional building process. Now what we want hence it was not much consultative in terms of the executive level, and now it has been brought forward to the parliament, I believe it is important to allow it to go through the process. We don’t want a situation where anything that comes to parliament is thrown away. I think the work of the parliament is to scrutinize, enact laws, check the relevant clauses and look at relevant provisions and engage the public,” he said.
The Gambia Participates’ position paper highlights the 2024 Draft Constitution as a pivotal opportunity to strengthen democratic governance and legal foundations. It calls on NAMs to consider stakeholder recommendations, warning that disregarding these inputs could result in a constitution that centralizes power and undermines transparency, accountability, and the rule of law.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice recently tabled the draft before the National Assembly, where its approval remains pending.