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  By Pa Louis Sambou   I can imagine very few people being opposed to Diaspora enfranchisement, something which appeared to have been a dirty word in the vocabulary of the previous government. With the current administration, hooray here it comes! Is this really the case or, perhaps naïve optimism? Given the circumstances, I guess it’s safe to assume that the answer lies somewhere in-between.    The Diaspora in 2016 accounted for over  22% of The Gambia’s GDP  which in cash terms is reported to be  $205.6 million and steadily rising to $226.7 million in 2017, $277.9 million in 2018 and $318.5 million in 2019 . The economic contribution of this ‘off-shore’ citizenry dwarfs that of key sectors such as  Agriculture, Industry  and even  Tourism  all of which individually account for much less. In light of these facts one could reasonably argue that the economic case for Diaspora enfranchisement is made out, something which convincingly diminishes the ‘lack of funds’ argument by the powers

By Pa Louis Sambou    General public discourse has for sometime regularly featured the subject of the UDP Secretary General, Lawyer Ousainou Darboe’s eligibility to run for the Presidency under the existing Constitution. The public interest in this particular subject has since been exacerbated following the voting down of the now historical draft Constitution whose section 94(1)(d) was designed to put this very issue to rest. However, as it turned out, the draft Constitution was ironically put to rest instead — rendered ‘dead’ as “reform pessimists” (according to Justice Jallow) would say or, in a ‘coma’ as reform fantasists steadfastly believe.     Never-mind which of the above metaphoric characterisations is a more fashionable description of the status of the much discredited framework, what’s clear is, as per section 22(1) of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) Act, the CRC stands dissolved as of 22 October 2020 and by default bringing to an end the legal effectiveness of key