The Gambian Constitutional Review Commission
Last week, the newly appointed Gambian Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) took part in a conference hosted by International IDEA and UNDP. While my work this summer has truly been fascinating, witnessing an actual constitution-making process was spectacular to say the least. As mentioned in an earlier post, The Gambia has suffered tremendously for the past twenty-two years at the hand of ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh. When Adama Barrow defeated him in a shock election in 2017, the country finally bifurcated towards a renewed democratic system.
Part of Barrow’s electoral promises was to appoint a CRC in order to draft a new constitution. Fortunately, the winning candidate actually held his promise and appointed a CRC comprised of eleven members in June 2018. This past week, I was thus lucky enough to meet the Gambian CRC’s members and to hear about the impressive Action Plan they designed for their mandate. Experts in constitutional law from around the globe also attended the conference to advise the CRC on the complexities of the constitution-making process.
After spending five days with the Gambian CRC, I can honestly say that the Commission’s members are truly impressive. What struck me the most about the CRC was its members’ down-to-earth approach to the constitutional review process. At the heart of the debate was the crucial idea that no amount of experience or legal expertise can rival with what the people of The Gambia actually want for their country. The Constitutional Review Commission Bill of 2017 does state that the CRC shall “seek public opinion and take into account such proposals as it considers appropriate,” but it was inspiring to hear both experts and commissioners alike stress how constitution-making processes should depend on the will of the people. After all, constitutions are merely documents that are meant to pose the fundamental laws of the land. As such, the will of the people should ultimately dictate constitutional design.
After a morning of debating constitutional-design options, one of the CRC members came up to me and told me how fortunate he was to be taking part in his country’s democratization process. As he put it, the CRC has “one shot” to secure a just and prosperous society for Gambians. Now, the CRC has eighteen months to achieve its goal, and I for one cannot wait to read what The Gambia’s Benjamin Franklins and George Washingtons design for their country’s Third Republic.