In an exclusive interview on Coffee Time with Peter Gomez, Dr. Ceesay described the rejection as “unfortunate and unfair”, blaming opposition members for prioritising politics over national interest.
“They should have let it pass to the next stage where negotiations would take place and let Gambians decide,” the minister said. “This was a golden opportunity to bring about a new constitution.”
Ceesay argued that the process should have been allowed to continue into its next phase debate, compromise, and ultimately, a public referendum. Instead, he accused the opposition of acting in “narrow self-interest” and sabotaging democratic progress.
Ceesay acknowledged the complexity of constitution-building in any democracy, noting that it is always a process riddled with disagreements. However, he emphasised that breaking the deadlock requires goodwill, something he claimed the opposition lacked from the beginning.
“They said it themselves even if you remove a dot or comma, they would still not support it. That’s not how negotiations work.”
He questioned the sincerity of those opposing the draft, suggesting they never intended to support it, regardless of its contents.
The minister insisted that the 2024 draft was largely based on the 2020 version which itself was previously rejected with minor amendments based on feedback from national consultations.
“It’s not true that we rewrote the constitution in cabinet,” he said. “85% of the 2020 draft is intact.”
He acknowledged some changes were made particularly around presidential powers but defended them as necessary to avoid creating a “lame duck” president in a presidential system.
“The 2020 draft went too far in stripping the presidency of power. That’s dangerous. You can't have a president who can’t even appoint or fire a minister.”
When asked about how this second rejection could impact Gambia’s image abroad, Dr. Ceesay remained optimistic.
“The world understands that constitution building is difficult. It’s not the end of the road.”
He emphasised that The Gambia is still a functioning democracy with a working constitution albeit an imperfect one and stressed that government remains committed to delivering a new constitution.
“We will go back, rethink, re-strategize. But this is not the end. Other countries have gone through worse. The key is not to despair.”
In a calm but firm tone, Dr. Ceesay urged lawmakers especially those who opposed the bill to reflect on the broader picture:
“No constitution is perfect. But to kill this at this stage, and not even let the people decide, that’s unfair. And I think they owe Gambians an explanation.”
