CRC Chairman says Constitution building is a serious business

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By AMADOU MANJANG

Justice Cherno Sulayman Jallow, the chairperson of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) on Tuesday told journalists that constitution building is a serious business.
Justice Jallow made this remark after nearly two years of working to make the final draft of the new constitution which was submitted to the president at the State House on Monday, March 30, 2020.

Justice Jallow in a televised press conference said the constitution-building must be centered on the people who are to be governed by that constitution that will give the constitution the legitimacy to stand out as a credible and generally accepted instrument.

He added that during the second round of public consultations tour they were faced with wishes and aspiration of the Gambia for inclusive constitution that can stand the test of time.

“What is best for this country today and going into the future so that both the present and future generations are governed by the same rules, and such that an amendment of the Constitution will only be necessitated by the most exceptional of circumstances.

To achieve this within a period of 18 months was not easy and required many long days and nights to get us to this day,” he said.

Expenses

Jallow told the journalist that CRC has spent 116 million dalasi on the making of the new constitution which takes a period of nearly two years of hard work.

He said: “We’ve expended as of 29 March 2020 a sum of a little over 116 million dalasis.”

CRC was set up in 2018 to draft a new constitution that will capture the aspiration of the people of the Gambia. CRC started work in June 2018.

The methodology adopted by CRC to arrive at its decisions

Jallow said the CRC has adhered to the statutorily established functions and exercised its discretionary powers in a fair and balanced manner, bearing in mind at all times matters that it considered to be in the best interest and future of The Gambia.

He said: “I made sure of this as Chairperson. Indeed from the inception of our work, I made sure that the ground rules were properly established and agreed upon. Our role as Commissioners was to facilitate public opinions, play the role of the devil’s advocate by ensuring the full coverage of all angles to an issue, make an assessment of what was essential or fundamental for inclusion in the Draft Constitution, and ensure a properly and effectively drafted Constitution that left little to no room for interpretation or uncertainty. Personal beliefs were eschewed and kept out of the decision-making process.”

He indicated that CRC used practical platforms of face-to-face public consultations, focus group discussions, written submissions on the Issues Document, online surveys, household surveys, face-to-face discussions with other stakeholders (including the 3 organs of State, relevant Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, civil society groups, faith-based organisations, specific interest group associations and individuals), and review of media debates (including social media).

“These consultation platforms represented the first of their type and magnitude in constitutional development in the history of The Gambia,” he said.

He further stated that the CRC direct interface with the Gambian people both at home and abroad has been an eye-opener to the circumstances and needs of the people and provided the opportunity to consider constitutional development in our context in its broadest perspective.