Independent presidential aspirant
By Landing Ceesay
Independent presidential aspirant Mamadou Bah who stated his intention to work with the young people when elected is open to alliance with any party with a similar plan.
“My objective in this country is to empower young people. So when you are empowering the young people you have to go along with the young people and on December 5th we are going to the State House with the young people. I am ready to align with any party, especially young people and we are available. If there is any party that is willing to push the agenda of young people, I am ready to work with that party if you are not interested in helping young people forget about the alliance.
“In my first 100 days in office I am going to review the government policies and programs and focus on the young people. No political party is talking about the back way and a lot of young people are dying on the back way journey. There is no political party talking about the Gambia-Senegal border and a lot of people have been arrested there. So in my first 100 days in the office I am going to work with the Senegalese government. We are going to have a long fence between Gambia and Senegal so that the drug dealers will not get access to our young people on the border for drug trafficking,” Mr Bah said.
Bah also revealed his intention to build a wall to separate The Gambia and Senegal in the first 100 days of his tenure when elected, a revelation which many frowned at and said would divide the two nations with long standing socio-cultural ties.
On day 4 (Tuesday) of the nomination process at IEC headquarters, Mamadou Bah, Dr Ceesay, Mama Kandeh, and independent aspirants Mamadi K.S. Camara presented their credentials to the IEC for consideration.
The nomination of presidential aspirants continues today at the Election House in Kanifing with GANU, PDOIS, GAP and independent aspirant Tamsir M. Jasseh scheduled to file their papers between 9:30 am and 2:30 pm.
The process would complete on Friday, and the details of the aspirants are on Saturday expected to be published for public scrutiny before the Electoral Commission would either accept or reject them.
For a successful nomination every aspirant should: be a citizen of The Gambia; attain a minimum age of thirty years; complete senior secondary school education; be ordinarily resident in The Gambia for the five years immediately preceding the election; be nominated by not less than five thousand voters whose names appeared in the register of voters with at least two hundred voters being drawn from each Administrative Area; present a sworn declaration of assets; present a tax clearance certificate; make payment of the deposit of Ten-thousand dalasi (D10, 000) as amended; have a representative symbol, colour and his/her photographs; be qualified as a voter under the Constitution and the Election Act may contest as an independent candidate in any election; shall abide by the code on election campaign ethics which the Commission may time to time prepare as a political party/candidate; and submit a manifesto which encourages the spirit of tolerance and multiculturalism.