His Excellency, President Adama Barrow and members of the Cabinet on Thursday, May 16th received Commissioners of the Constitutional Review Commission at the State House as part their institutional consultations with key governance bodies in the country. The Commissioners, led by Chairman, Justice Cherno Sulayman Jallow, visited the presidency to hold consultative dialogue with the Executive branch of government over matters relating to the drafting of a new constitution for the country.

While commending the Commissioners for their extensive consultative process at home and abroad, the president expressed thanks to the team for reaching out to the executive. He said Cabinet members are citizens and have opinions, too, on the nature of the future laws of the country.

‘’Today is important in that we are given the chance to have an interface with the CRC’’, President Barrow opined. ‘’As Cabinet, we are also citizens of this country, given a big responsibility to run the affairs of the country. I think we have a lot to contribute. We will not interfere with your work, but we are we have our opinions; we have our proposals so that we can also be heard just like other Gambians’’.

The president expressed delight at the consultative work of the commission across the country, revealing that he has been keenly following its activities. He reiterated that it is vital that the final document is as inclusive, representational, and could stand the test of time.
‘’Our main objective is build a strong foundation for democracy for this country. And this document is very important as far as that is concerned’’, he stressed.
He described the openness and wider consultative approach of the CRC as “something good for the new Gambian democracy”; one that provides the right context for the government’s policy of building strong foundation for democracy.

The Commissioners, sworn since June 2018, have been embarking on various consultative processes across the country and abroad.

Chairman of the Constitutional Review Commission, Justice Cherno Jallow described the task of reviewing and drafting of a new constitution as a “herculean, heavy responsibility”. He emphasized that the commission enjoys a high level of cooperation as well as absolute autonomy.