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Momodou
Denmark
11640 Posts |
 Posted - 17 May 2011 : 20:28:19
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PDOIS´ STATEMENT ON THE CURRENT REGISTRATION EXERCISE
SOVEREIGNTY DOES NOT RESIDE IN THE PERSON WHO IS WITHOUT POWER AND VOICE TO SAY WHO SHOULD GOVERN A COUNTRY
Issued By Halifa Sallah 15 th May 2011
The long awaited registration exercise has begun in earnest. The old voter?s cards are now invalid. If one does not get a new voter?s card one will not be able to vote in the next presidential and National Assembly elections or in any referendum held in 2011 and 2012.
The voter ´s card is what enables each Gambian to be equal to the other in power and voice to say who will manage the affairs of the country on one´s behalf. It is therefore important that every Gambian who has attained the age of 18 years or would attain the age of 18 years by 24th November, 2011, to go to the nearest registration centre in one's constituency or one's place of birth, to be registered as a voter.
As the registration of voter's commences Gambians are beginning to witness the crisis which has gripped our system of determining citizenship. Last week all Gambians who are exposed to the print media may have read the case of the elders resident at Kotu Quarry whose ID Cards were seized, despite the fact that they have lived in the Gambia for decades and have been allowed in the past to possess voter's cards. Their children who were born in the Gambia also could not hide their frustration and shock for having been rendered stateless by depriving their parents of Gambian citizenship.
46 years have elapsed since the Gambia gained the right to self determination. However no effort has been made to examine the laws on citizenship with the view to make them responsive to the demographic composition of the country.
In the 1980s, we made it abundantly clear that there are people who have lived in this country for decades but have not been told that they could naturalise and become Gambian citizens after a seven year stay. We told such people that they were being cheated by political interest groups whose members assist them to get National documents and voter's cards instead of assisting them to Naturalise to become Gambian citizens and get their National documents without any fear of being victimized in the future. We warned that those who failed to naturalise are turning their own children into stateless persons in the Gambia because the law on citizenship indicated that one could only be a citizen by birth if one was born before 1965, if one's parent or grandparent was born in the Gambia or had naturalized to be a citizen of the Gambia . Our wise counsel was largely ignored. We further indicated that according to the 1965 constitution those born in the Gambia before 1965 of parents who were not born in the Gambia were given the opportunity to be registered as citizen of the Gambia before 1967 but that the literate people of the day hardly knew what was in the constitution or did not have the interest to conduct civic education to inform the people. Hence 1967 elapsed without the people concerned knowing their rights. We spared no effort in telling the people that all those women who were married to Gambian men could have been registered to become citizens by marriage. This has also been largely ignored by those who should have benefited. We made our duty to explain that the 1970 constitution has made it a requirement that a person born in the Gambia after 1965 could only be a citizen of the Gambia if one of his or her parents is a citizen of the Gambia . We cautioned that under such a provision a person could be born in the Gambia of parents who were not born in the Gambia and have a child who is born in the Gambia who would not be considered a citizen of the country. Ridiculous and ambiguous Constitutional provision indeed , isn´t it?
During the review of the Constitution in 1996 we pointed out the shortcomings of the 1970 constitution on citizenship and called for reform.
We called for all those who would have been citizens by naturalization in 1996 but did not apply because of ignorance of the procedures to be mentioned in a provision which accords citizenship through registration. We also recommended a complete separation between citizenship by birth and citizenship by descent so that every one born in the Gambia would be qualified to be a citizen by birth and all those who are born abroad of a parent who is a Gambian citizen would qualify to be a citizen by descent.
The 1997 constitution did not alter the provisions on citizenship in the 1997 constitution for the better. On the contrary, it made them to be more stringent. While a person had to stay in the Gambia for seven years and be qualified to apply for naturalization now one has to stay in the Gambia for 15 years to be qualified. Secondly, women married to Gambian citizens before 1997 could apply to be registered as citizens without any time stipulated regarding length of residence. Now both male and female have to stay in the country for seven years before one could be qualified to apply for citizenship by marriage.
The APRC executive and members of the National Assembly had done nothing to address the crisis of citizenship nor have they put in place proper procedures to register and provide documents for births and deaths that are durable. This is why attestations are relied on by tens of thousands of people to get voter?s cards.
If we ever take charge of the country on our own or through a coalition we would put on the National agenda the policy of registering all those who would have been citizens of the country by birth, naturalization, marriage and descent if they were aware of what to do. All of them would get National Identity Cards. We would also ensure that all those who are already qualified to be Gambian citizens are granted National Identity cards. This would give us a good starting point in knowing who are the citizens of the country. This would be followed by appointing scribes for all village headmen or headwomen to record all birth and deaths which must be forwarded on a quarterly basis, to the central statistics department which shall have a branch in each region. All babies shall be issued with a birth certificate which shall take the form of a National Identity card. This card would be retained until one reaches 18 years and would be automatically utilised to get a National ID card. This same National ID card would be utilised to get a voter?s card. Under such a system there will be no need for attestation forms or disputes on citizenship. There will be no stateless persons. Hence all those stateless persons who are struggling underground to get voter's cards should blame the APRC for excluding them. They should form an association instead to demand for inclusion through constitutional and legal reforms on citizenship and the provision of viable procedures on citizenship by naturalization and marriage that are known to all and could be easily utilised to achieve one's aim. They are assured of such reforms if we are ever in charge or could influence executive policy.
Furthermore we have been following the registration exercise in Banjul, the Kanifing Municipality and the West Coast Region.
Some people are registering where they are not born or resident due mainly to ignorance. Section 12 of the Elections Act makes it a requirement for a person to be registered in the constituency where he or she is resident or born. The reason for this is simple. The Gambia has a constituency system in determining the members of the National Assembly instead of a system based on proportional representation. This is why the law says that one must be registered where one is born or resident. In a system based on proportional representation one could be registered any where to vote anywhere since the number of seats a party is entitled to would be determined by the number and percentage of votes it receives nationally. The members who would qualify to be in the National Assembly would be based on a list of candidates. Proportional representation is the most inclusive form of determining representation, since people abroad would be able to participate in both Presidential and National Assembly elections. This would be in line with the letter and spirit of the Constitution which states both under section 26 and especially section 39, that "Every citizen of the Gambia being eighteen years or older and of sound mind shall have the right to vote for the purpose of elections of a president and members of the National Assembly". Gambians abroad should demand for an electoral system based on proportional representation so that their constitutional rights would be guaranteed.
Finally, it is very apparent that the existence of attestation forms is making outsiders to interfere with the registration exercise. Younger people have become Attestants of people who are older than them. Alkalos are providing documents to people who are not born in their villages. The APRC stalwarts have established council of elders or Yai Compins who sit close to registration centres to serve as attestants, despite the decision of the IEC for each party to have registration agents to monitor the process and free the registration teams from all party interference. A big battle is taking place between party representatives to discourage these party attestants from interfering with the process or sit where it would appear that they are part of the registration process and deceive claimants to think that they are in control. In fact, we even got report that Attestations forms were being sold by attestants for ten dalasis in one registration centre in the West Coast region. Observers met the forms on the table of the attestants which is in contravention of IEC procedures of issuing forms only to claimants. The observers informed the attestants of the allegations which they could neither confirm nor deny and then advised them not to perpetuate such corrupt practices.
The person who is qualified to be registered must go to the registration centre and go directly to the Registering Officer to claim to be registered as a voter. The registering officer is required to accept a National Identity Card, a birth Certificate, a Passport, a document certified by a Chief or Alkalo confirming one's birth in a village or district, a document certified by five elders who know the person and could confirm that he or she is a citizen of the Gambia . This could be one?s parents, uncles, aunts, godfather or godmother if one is a Christian. Citizens have family ties and do not need strangers to confirm their citizenship.
Those who are interested in standing for elections are providing funds for people to put their details on forms to attest to the citizenship of every Samba, Pateh, Kumba and Demba not realizing that there names could appear before revising courts and they could be summoned to appear in court. Once this happens, those seeking political leadership will never accept responsibility for any fraudulent attestation.
PDOIS hopes that all Gambians, regardless of party affiliation will assist the IEC to enable each Gambian to have an equal say in determining who will run our affairs. We should not try to cheat posterity and destiny. After all we have the duty to utilise our power to create a better world for our children and our children's children. None of us should wait to be bribed or paid to contribute our quota in ensuring a free and fair registration exercise and make a difference. The future belongs to the honest and upright citizens who will not sell their birth right for a paltry price.
Source: PDOIS Secretariat
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2011 : 21:01:05
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| "Know yourselves, know your country, and the world. Then you shall be the architect of your own destiny. " Foroyaa |
Edited by - kobo on 17 May 2011 21:18:48 |
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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2011 : 01:05:33
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Nice
quote:
Originally posted by kobo
"Know yourselves, know your country, and the world. Then you shall be the architect of your own destiny. " Foroyaa
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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