ISSUE NO: 9/2002        28  February - 3 March, 2002

Editorial

Is The President Constitutionally Required To Form A New Cabinet
At first it appeared, after the presidential elections, the president would
just continue with his old cabinet. However it did not take long for the
president to remove the Secretary of state for Local Government and Lands.
Since then he has not filled the post.

When the National Assembly convened its first session it also became
apparent that Mr. Tamsir Jallow was not nominated as majority leader. This
led to speculation that he would be made a Secretary of State after his long
service to the APRC.

The issue of forming a new cabinet after election even if it means
appointing the same person to the same cabinet  post has been  hotly
debated. Some argue that it is a constitutional requirement while others
argue that there is no constitutional provision for it.

The issue is now a public interest as many people raise the issue with
FOROYAA.

It  is therefore important to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the
arguments. The tenure of office of a president is limited to a term of five
years by section 63 of the constitution. Under section 46 elections for the
office of president is to take place within three months before the
expiration of the term of office of the incumbent president.

After elections the new president must assume office and start a new five
year term. The question now arises: What  happens when a new  president must
assume office? Can the previous Secretaries of State continue to hold
office? Section 71 of the constitution gives a clear answer to these
questions. It states under subsection (4)(a) that “the office of Secretary
of State shall become vacant” on the assumption of a person of the office
of president.

Hence it is clear that once a new president assumes office the office of
Secretary of State becomes vacant and he or she is entitled to appoint a new
cabinet which may include those who previously held such offices. This is
FOROYAA’s view. We hope the debate will continue to ensure that
constitutional provisions are respected and observed.



National Assembly Members Must Declare Their Assets And Vacate Any Public
Office Or Office In The Public Service

FOROYAA has been receiving inquiries as to whether a National Assembly
member can retain public office or office in the public service while
maintaining  a seat in the National Assembly.

There are two types of National Assembly members. There are elected and
nominated members. Section 89 of the constitution makes it a requirement for
both an elected and nominated member “to make a declaration of his or her
assets to the Independent Electoral Commission before one can be a National
Assembly member”.

Secondly, section 91 subsection (1) of the constitution paragraph (b) states
that  “A member of the National Assembly shall vacate his or her seat in
the National Assembly....if any circumstances arise which, if he or she were
not a member, would cause him or her to be disqualified for election as a
member or nomination as a member.”

It goes without saying that a person is disqualified to be a national
assembly member under section 90 subsection (1) (h) “If he or she holds or
acts in any office or  appointment that may be be prescribed by an Act of
the National Assembly.”

Needless to say, a person is also disqualified under section 90 subsection
(1)(g) if he or she holds a public office or an office in the public
service. If a person who is appointed  leaves to stand for elections wins he
or she must resign or be removed from his or her office in the public
service or be disqualified to be a member of the National Assembly.

Section 90 subsection (3) makes it categorically clear that the
disqualifying provisions are applicable to nominated members. It reads:

“This section, that is, section 90 which deals with disqualifications for
membership of the National Assembly, “shall apply to nominated members
with such modifications relating to time limits for elections.”

The reason why Secretaries of State and those holding public office cannot
be National Assembly members is to create a separation of powers between the
executive and legislature or National Assembly members, provide them with
free choice not to be influenced by any authority but the dictates of
conscience and the national interest.



There Was No UDP Congress
Readers kept on asking FOROYAA what led to the postponement of an alleged
UDP congress which is said to have been scheduled from 8th to 10th February
2002 at Brikama.

Our investigations reveal the National youth executive of the UDP were to
“organise a three day seminar starting from 8th to 10th February. The
invitation letter signed by Lamin L. Nyassi (Syngle)  indicated among other
things that the seminar would be followed by a mass rally at the Brikama
praying ground starting from 3:30pm to 10pm on Sunday 10th February 2002.

The seminar was supposed to take place at Brikama Santang-Ba Cinema.
Reporters who appeared were told that  two UDP supporters died which had led
to the postponement of the seminar until the following Saturday. Reporters
who went the following Saturday did not meet the organisers at the venue.
However a leading UDP official indicated that the events were postponed
until after the Tobaski celebrations because of  the death of  the two UDP
supporters.

This is how matters stand.



The Local Government Elections Announced Without A Local Government Act

The IEC has  announced that Local government elections will be held on 25th
April 2002. The constitution of the Republic has made it abundantly clear
that new Local Government structures should be established.

It states in section 193 that “Local Government administration in The
Gambia shall be based on a system of democratically elected council with a
high  degree of local autonomy.”

Subsection (2) empowers the Independent Electoral Commission to determine
the geographical boundaries of each Local Government authority.

It states that “An Act of the National Assembly shall provide for the
establishment of city councils, municipalities and area councils (which are
together referred to as local government authorities), and the district in
which each shall have jurisdiction. The geographical boundaries of each
local government authority shall be determined by the Independent Electoral
Commission.”

Subsection (3) adds that “An Act of the National Assembly shall make
provision for the functions, powers and duties of local government
authorities including provision for -

(a) the infrastructure and development of the area within the authority’s
jurisdiction;

(b) the encouragement of commercial enterprises;

(c) the participation of the inhabitants in the development and
administration of the area;

(d) the essential and other services to be provided by the authority;

(e) the raising of local revenue;

(f) the management, control and oversight of the authority’s finances and
audit of its accounts by the Auditor-General;

(g) the making of by-laws;

(h) the preservation of the environment;

(i) the promotion of Gambian tradition and culture; and

(j) the control of financial and other resources allocated by the Central
Government.

Subsection (4) further states that “It shall be an object of the local
government system that so far as possible, issues of local policy and
administration shall be decided at a local level and that local government
authorities shall co-operate with the central government in adopting a
policy of decentralisation.”

Section 194 indicates the need for an Act of the National Assembly to
establish tenure of office of members of local government authorities at
four years interval.

Section 194 reads:

“An Act of the National Assembly by or under which a local government
authority is established shall include provision for (a) the election of
members of the authority from among residents of the area within the
authority’s jurisdiction at intervals of four years and the qualifications
for elections.”

It is therefore absolutely essential for the Local Government Bill to be
brought before the National Assembly in March 2002 to prevent elections
being held

Without Act being in place. it is also not clear whether the commission is
going to retain the demarcation of wards undertaken by the commission during
the chairmanship of Bishop Tilewa Johnson.









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