#Editorial

Good Morning Mr. President: On constitution, cash notes

Jan 9, 2023, 12:19 PM

Mr President, it's a new year 2023 and there are a lot of pending issues that your government needs to tackle.

Enacting a new constitution should be one of your top most priorities. A new constitution will make room for more democratic provisions in the laws of the country. 

It could be recalled that on 22nd September 2020, the National Assembly rejected the draft constitution, costing the government over D100 million which many see as a loss to the nation.

Any future constitution for The Gambia should consider making provision for a two-term limit of five years each.

The percentage for the president to be elected could also be set at least at 51%. 

Regarding asset declaration as currently required by the IEC, for all the presidential candidates, the ministers, permanent secretaries, heads of government must also declare their assets as a requirement.

The Constitution must also ensure that journalists are protected against arrest or jail in the course of their work.  The Gambia Media Council (MCG) was established and it has been existing. Founded in 2018, the MCG is the first ever self-regulatory mechanism for journalism in the country. The Council is provided with a broad mandate: to establish and enforce professional standards; promote media freedoms and freedom of expression, and media and information literacy. The government should support the council and makes sure that it directs it complaints to the Council rather than resorting to arresting and assaulting of journalists.

The media may set the pace for good governance. That is why the government should support and strengthen the media to play its role in the democratisation process as we are partners in development.

Mr President, there is a need for Foreign Service academy for the training of diplomats and protocol officers. Such an academy will help the country to rebrand and position itself within the community of nations. It will help us to maintain better and professional engagement with other nations of the world as it will strengthen our international cooperation. 

Appointments in government positions or promotion should not be based on party affiliation but on merit, qualification and professional performance.

Finally Mr President, the state of our cash notes should be looked into. The notes are so dirty, and in a very bad state especially the D5, D10 and D20 notes.

Some people have started refusing to take these notes and these may cause chaos between traders and customers.

The most disheartening thing is that it's the banks that are giving out these bad notes which should have been the other way round. Bad notes should be taken to banks and not banks giving people these bad notes.

Good day!

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