Presidential
nominations start today with Mamma Kandeh, leader of the Gambia Democratic
Congress (GDC), whilst Dr Isatou Touray, who was scheduled for nomination on
Tuesday 8 November, has withdrawn from the race.
On
Wednesday, 9 November, Adama Barrow, flagbearer of the coalition, will be
nominated, and on Thursday is the turn of incumbent president Yahya Jammeh.
Mamma
Kandeh is 51 years old, like President Jammeh and Adama Barrow. Kandeh was
actually born on 12 July 1965.
Mamma
Kandeh attended Crab Island School in Banjul and Gambia Technical Training
Institute (GTTI) in Jeshwang KMC.
He
is married with three wives after divorcing one.
He
was elected in 2007 as Member of Parliament for the ruling party APRC for
Jimira constituency, when he defeated Adama
Barrow
of UDP by 4067 to 2,835 votes. Now Barrow is the flag bearer of the coalition.
Mamma
Kandeh was expelled from the APRC on 3 April 2013.
On
11 May 2016 he formed his party, the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), and to
date he has refused to join the coalition.
Efforts
were made by this paper to obtain his full profile, but to no avail. Even
though many attempts were made by The Point to reach him, up to the time of
going to press, none of his top aides could provide us with Kandeh’s profile.
Nomination
criteria for presidency
According
to the IEC, nomination criteria for presidential aspirant in The Gambia states
that: a candidate shall be a citizen of The Gambia; he or she must have
attained a minimum age of 30 years, but not more than 65 years; must have
completed senior secondary school; should be ordinarily resident in The Gambia
for the five years immediately preceding election; and must be nominated by not
less than 5000 voters with at least 200 voters drawn from each Administrative
Area.
The
criteria also includes a sworn declaration of assets; tax clearance
certificate; payment of a deposit of D500,000; and having a representative
symbol, colour and photograph of the candidate.
Furthermore,
according to the criteria, a person who is qualified to be registered as a
voter under the Constitution and the Elections Act may contest as an
Independent candidate in any election; and a candidate shall abide by the code
on election campaign ethics, which the commission prepares from time to time.
The
candidate must also submit a manifesto encouraging the spirit of tolerance and
multiculturalism; and a detailed and comprehensive campaign itinerary.
The
criteria also states that a deposit paid in accordance with section 43 shall be
returned to the candidate if: his or her nomination paper is rejected; he or
she withdraws his or her nomination in accordance with the provisions of the
Act; and that there is no contested election, or in a contested election in
relation to the election of a president, he or she obtains not less than forty
per cent of the votes cast for the elected candidate. In other words, if a
candidate does not obtain 40 per cent of the votes of the elected president, he
or she would lose the deposit of D500,000.
