During the coup period, the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) had absolute power to make laws and appoint anyone to any post. This enabled it to hire and fire at will. They therefore constituted the councils as they wished.
The return to constitutional rule is proving to be a challenge to the APRC government which appears to have grown accustomed to the absolute powers of the coup period. What is surprising to many is the speed with which the executive has moved to dissolve councils and appoint management teams.
First and foremost, Section 100 subsection 7 of the Constitution states that "no act of the National Assembly shall come into operation until it has been published in the Gazette "
According to the section, when a bill is passed, it has to be assented to by the president and published in the Gazette within 30 days of assent.
The secretary of State for Local Government has recently taken a bill to the national assembly which called for the dissolution of councils three months before an election and the appointment of a management team by the President to run them prior to elections.
The dissolution has already been effected and the appointments of the Management teams have also taken place .Foroyaa will monitor the Gazettes to see whether the provisions of the constitution have been complied with.
What is of greater concern is the constitutionality of the Management teams. Section 193 of the Constitution makes it Mandatory for local Government Administration to be based on a system of democratically elected councils. We repeat - Section 193 reads : "Local Government Administration in the Gambia shall be based on a system of democratically elected councils with a high degree of local autonomy."
There is no room for management teams The provision which creates this management team to replace elected councillors is unconstitutional. Elected councillors should go to court to challenge this under section 5 of the Constitution.
Culled from FOROYAA Newspaper
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