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. _________________________________________________________________ Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>