Amendments to Elections Decree Proposed




The Independent (Banjul)

June 8, 2001
Posted to the web June 8, 2001

Alhagie Mbye
Banjul, the Gambia

A bill proposing to amend Decree 78, (Elections Decree) has been presented
to the National Assembly.

The bill, entitled "An Act to amend the Elections Decree, 1996 and matters
connected therewith" and signed by the Secretary of State for Local
Government and Lands Momodou Nai Ceesay proposes to amend the Decree to
bring it in line with the recent amendments to the constitution as well as
accommodate the present voter registration exercise.

According to the gazette, the bill when passed shall be deemed to have come
into force on April 1st 2001.

In the proposed amendments to the Decree, all references to district chief
and village heads in Section 3 sub-section (1) have been replaced by a new
section, which also takes care of Section 4 of the Decree.

The new section 4 (1) reads; "the commission shall for the purpose of
registration of voters and conduct of election divide The Gambia into the
administrative areas specified in part 1 of schedule I or any other law,
each area consisting of such number of constituencies demarcated and
determined in accordance with the provision of the constitution and any
other law".

On Sections 8 and 9 of the Decree dealing with the powers and functions of
the Independent Electoral Commission dealing with the powers and functions
of the commission and the delineation of boundaries, the amendment proposes
the deletion of any references to district chief and village head while
Section 9 was substituted with new sub-section as follows; (a) each
constituency and district shall be determined in accordance with the
provisions of the constitution and any other law; (b) each ward shall be
such as shall be prescribed by the commission in consultation with the
appropriate Department of State by orders published in the Gazette.

In Section 12 of the Decree, which deals with the qualification for
registration, there has been a new paragraph which states that "a document
certified by five elders that the applicant is a citizen of The Gambia or
(e) a document certified by the district seyfo or an Alkalo of the district
or village respectively of birth of the applicant should state that the
applicant was born in the district or village". It went on to add a new
sub-section that "(3) the commission shall not reject a valid document
produced under subsection (2)".

On application for registration on Section 17, the new sub-section suggests
"(1) A person who claims to be entitled to be registered as a voter in a
constituency shall, on presenting himself at a registration centre be
supplied a registration form in such form as may be prescribed by the
commission in conjunction with the appropriate department of state."

On the issuing of voting cards on Section 21, the new Section reads; "(1)
Every claimant whose name is entered in the register of voters shall be
issued a voting card in such form as shall be prescribed by the commission
in conjunction with the appropriate department of state:

Provide that provision shall be made in a voting card prescribed under this
sub-section for the insertion of the constituency in which a voter is
registered".

On Section 104 of the Decree, the participation of political parties in
elections, a new sub-section (6) states that; "A political party shall be
required to- (a) as occasion may require, declare to the commission and the
public, its revenues and assets and the source of its revenue and assets;
(b) publish annually, its audited accounts and to lodge a copy with the
commission. (7) A political party shall not receive any contribution from
any person who is not a citizen of The Gambia, or from any corporate or
unincorporated body."

Among the objects and reasons given for the bill were the need to harmonize
the Elections Decree with the recent amendments to the constitution, citing
specifically the deletion of sections 51 to 57, which it states makes it
"imperative that the text be incorporated into the elections Decree to avoid
a vacuum on the one hand, and on the other, to bring within the ambits of
the law the present general registration exercise, including the notice of
registration and the voting cards being presently issued".


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