Astou Jawara
The President of Peace Ambassadors-The Gambia (PAG), Mr. Babucarr Sambou, has said they had trained 53 Constituency observers and six Regional Coordinators to observe the campaigns for the forthcoming December 4, 2021 presidential election.
He was speaking at a media briefing on Monday, 8th October 2021, during which he informed journalists that PAG–an international organization focusing on youth and peace– is observing different phases of the 2021 presidential election; noting their observation efforts started with observing political party congress, the voter registration process, the candidates nomination period, and now the campaign period. For the latter, as Sambou reported, PAG would on Tuesday, 9th November, 2021 deploy 59 long-term observers which include 6 regional coordinators, in 53 constituencies, so as to observe the process in all the regions and constituencies of the Gambia.
“All 59 observers will observe and send campaign observation checklist reports on two days (one in the middle and one at the end of the period) as well as send in critical incidents reported throughout the process, anytime they occur.
“PAG observers will observe and report on campaign processes such as political parties, campaign marches and demonstrations, debates, the use of the media, flyers, posters, billboards, or community outreach events,” the peace organization’s President disclosed the press.
Sambou went on to say they would also watch out for campaign violence within their assigned areas such as propagation of hate speeches and divisive messages, intimidation, and harassment targeted at electoral actors and other groups.
Hear him: “Observers will further report on civic and voters education activities, awareness of, and adherence to, COVID-19 health and safety measures as well as the IEC preparatory activities for the Election Day at the regional and constituency levels.”
In addition to observers, Sambou informed that PAG had also trained five (5) Data Clerks to be stationed at the PAG National Information Center in Kanifing, and they would be collecting checklist reports from constituency observers on the ‘two designated reporting days’ as well as critical incidents from all the PAG observers, all through the campaign process.
According to him, for the pre-election period, PAG would issue three public updates to communicate its observations and findings to the public; and the said updates would be in the form of a report or brief that would either be posted on a social platform or shared directly into emails of various stakeholders, to communicate PAG’s findings.
He explained further: “This final update covers the PAG Campaign Deployment Strategy, and Candidate Nomination Observation will be followed by two additional updates. One will be issued on Friday, 19th November-that will include the PAG first Campaign Update. A second and final update will be issued on Friday, 3rd December, 2021.” He continued that the final update “will also communicate the PAG Deployment Strategy for Election Day Observation”, and Sambou reassured that all PAG Campaign reports would be based on the direct observations from its 59 observers located in all constituencies and regions.
In addition to the two campaign updates, he promised that PAG “will immediately share with the appropriate authorities” any verified critical incident reports or any other relevant information so that actions would immediately be taken to address the issue(s).
“The two updates will also be shared with the IEC, members of the media and major electoral stakeholders. Throughout the campaign period, there will also be regular posts of PAG activities on its social media page and official website for the public to access,” he told the audience.
The PAG deployed an observer to observe the IEC candidates’ nomination process and public Scrutiny for a total of eight days (30 October-6 November) at the IEC Headquarters in Kanifing. The observer was trained to report on specific issues of the process based on a comprehensive checklist.
PAG President Sambou acknowledged the said observer was permitted by the electoral Commission to observe the submission of nomination papers by the Presidential aspirants; that he was only given five minutes to carry out public scrutiny of all 23 aspirants who submitted nomination papers to the IEC.
Therefore, he said, observation findings only generally comprised the submission procedures and the general environment at the IEC office during the process.
The PAG observer reported that the IEC office opened on time daily, with the Returning Officer and other IEC officials present to receive nomination papers. He said their observer also noted the vast space between where observers were seated and the IEC tent where the nomination papers were submitted.
“This prevented observers from generally observing which documents were being submitted in the package,” he observed.
The observer, as revealed, reported that no aspirant was prevented from submitting their nomination papers. In instances where some aspirants did not submit all the legal requirements as outlined by the Electoral Laws of The Gambia, the IEC provided them the opportunity to resubmit a complete nomination package.
“PAG witnessed a total of 23 aspirants submit nomination papers, out of which only one was female [Independent Presidential Aspirant Mrs. Marie Sock-Jobarteh]. According to the IEC, only 6 of the 23 submissions were in compliance with the IEC guidelines and were later announced as candidates for the 2021 Presidential Elections,” Sambou pointed out.
These, he reminded his audience, included five political parties and one Independent Candidate [to wit: NPP being led by the incumbent President Adama Barrow; UDP being led by Lawyer Ousainou Darboe; PDOIS by seasoned parliamentarian, Hon. Halifa Sallah; GDC of former Jimara Parliamentarian, Mr. Mama Kandeh; National Unity Party (NUP) of new entrant and ex-Civil Aviation Authority boss Mr. Abdoulie E.Jammeh; and former TRRC Lead Counsel Essa M. Faal Esquire– Independent].
The IEC noted that the aspirants whose submissions were disqualified were based on the following reasons:
“Failure to submit the required number of registered voters, who support their candidacy for all or some administrative areas; a signed copy of the Code of Campaign Ethics; a complete assets declaration form; forgery detected from the Submissions [in respect of aspirant ex-army Major Alieu Sowe’s nomination under the umbrella of Gambia Action Party or GAP]; submitting under the banner of an unregistered party-[in the case of Alhaji Mamadi Kurang], all of which are outlined by the electoral laws of The Gambia,” Sambou told the gathered journalists.
He said their observer also reported the presence of national security personnel at the IEC office during the nomination process, including members of the Gambia Police Force (GPF), Gambia Immigration Department (GID) and Gambia Prisons Service (GPS). He added that their observer further said the presidential aspirants were accompanied by private security and large crowds supporting them during the submission of their nomination papers. He revealed that only in one instance a supporter was seen bearing a knife and was immediately arrested by the state security agents.
He opined that all the aspirants were treated equally, according to the laws of The Gambia during the submission of their nomination papers.
Peace Ambassadors-The Gambia is an International peace education and advocacy organization operating in The Gambia and beyond. Since 2001, it’s been focusing mainly on Peace Education, Conflict Resolution, Youth, and Civic empowerment.
“The organization has, over the years, received accreditation from the Independent Electoral Commission availing us the opportunity to serve as an Election Observation Group in the Presidential, Parliamentary as well as Local Government elections. Peace Ambassadors expanded its election observation efforts from Election-Day observation to systematic long-term observation covering major electoral processes within the entire election cycle.”
