Hon. Tambajang Must Decline The Vice-Presidency Or Else…

Can anyone please tell the Gambian people the reason the President is working overtime and bending backward to create the space and conditions for Hon. Tambajang to become the Vice-President? Is her becoming the VP conditionality for the coalition MOU or Adama Barrow becoming the nominee of the coalition? These questions deserve answers from the coalition spokesman and the Minister of Information for the Government.

Most of my fellow coalition supporters are mum on the untenable situation regarding the contemptuous VP conundrum and pretend as if all is well. We forgot that the President of the Republic told the Gambian people and the entire world that Mrs. Tambajang was indeed (constitutionally) qualified to become the next Vice President of The Gambia. In essence, the President was arguing that she was within the constitutionally sanctioned age limit of 65 years which was amended yesterday oddly enough by the APRC dominated Parliament. Which action, we know to be unconstitutional since due process was not followed. He went so far as to challenge anyone who doubts that fact to ‘prove it otherwise’. Even as some argued that the burden of prove is NOT on the media or the Gambian people, but in fact on Hon. Tambajang and the President.

It will take approximately 4 months to change the Age Limit through the proper parliamentary and constitutional procedure. This will mean, the Gambia will be without a legitimate Vice-President for approximately 120 days. This will be a grave dereliction of duty by the President and a threat to national security and severely expose the nation to a potential disruption in governance if (Allah forbid) the President is incapacitated. This is because the 1997 Constitution has no provisions for what happens if a junior minister assigned to oversee the Vice-Presidency is the next person in the line of succession. In fact, that scenario is in essence and in spirit expressly forbidden by section IV, Sub-sections (62, 65 and 70) of the constitution. This in essence, renders the present arrangement of Mrs. Tambajang overseeing the office of the Vice President illegal.

Therefore, I am strongly urging Mrs. Tambajang to honorably decline the portfolio for the sake of preserving her dignity, legacy and safe the President from an unnecessary embarrassment. I also urge the Attorney General to do his job and advise the President of the unconstitutionality, if it was an oversight or explain to the Gambian people why he believed and advised the President that such an action was within the law. I will not, neither should anyone criticize the new and obviously very qualified AG for any missteps. It is clear Hon. Tambedou deserves time to reacquaint himself with the Gambian constitution. Mr. Tambedou has obviously not been practicing Gambian law for a while due to his international appointment. Even the President’s chief legal adviser sometimes needs a legal adviser. Not that I am claiming to be that.

I further argue, that any changes to such important sections of the constitution be delayed until after the April Parliamentary election. This will give more legitimacy to any future beneficiary of such a change. This will ensure that we not be indirectly giving relevance to a National Assembly dominated by the lackeys and sycophants of the former Dictator. This will undeservedly give them the honor they do not deserve.