Gambia Participates, a prominent youth-led anti-corruption campaign network, on March 6, 2021 convened a one-day seminar for over thirty (30) young civil society advocates drawn from all the seven regions of the country.
The “Election TechCamp” was meant to enlighten participants on elections monitoring, observations and the use of tech-platforms to instill elections consciousness among Gambians. Experts drawn from various fields facilitated the day’s long seminar.
The Executive Director of Gambia Participates, Mr. Marr Nyang, underlined that election periods help citizens to either renew or terminate their social contracts with elected officials owing to the performance of these public or elected individuals.
In view of this important role by society, the anti-corruption Activist believes, it’s imperative for people to be educated about the importance of such civic exercises as it determines their lives in every five years.
President of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), Mr. Sheriff Bojang Jnr., who took participants through election monitoring and reporting and the significance of such activities before, during and after elections in any country, especially the Gambia, held that “election is life”.
The Independent Electoral Commission’s (ICE’s) Director of Communication and Training, Mr. Joseph Kolley, delved into the electoral processes and the role of the electoral body in Gambia’s elections.
He reminded his audience that the Gambia practices ‘First-past-the-post’ (FPTP) electoral system where candidates could win elections with a simple majority, adding that there are numerous other processes that are practiced by various other countries such as the absolute majority or the citizen manifesto, a system that allows citizens to put forward their development agenda to candidates.
Kolley stated the IEC derives its powers from the constitution of The Gambia and that they are only answerable to the National Assembly. That, the same 1997 constitution mandates them to be conducting national and local elections as well as referenda, nationwide. “Our Act has also given us powers to come up with our own internal regulations that we feel necessary,” the IEC official added.
Another vital theme that was captured by the election tech camp was the Strategic Community Engagement on Voter Mobilization and Participation which was facilitated by Mr. Baboucarr Nyang, a Minds Election and Governance Trainer. He stressed on the importance of elections and the methods that civic activists could employ or deploy to engage and convince citizens into participating in elections; describing the entire process as critical in advancing democracy in the Gambia.
Besides, Mr. Kara Jagne, a technologist who runs a tech-firm in the Gambia, drilled participants on the social media platforms or gadgets, namely Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and Messenger that youth election activists could utilize to positively educate the masses. He apprised that these Apps contain useful features that are easily useable by many youth today.
Mr. Marabi Amfaal Hydara, the Social Media Officer of Gambia Participates, enlightened the trainees on social media advocacy as he explained some of the social media applications or platforms that elections advocates could utilize to share short, apt and precise elections messages with their audiences on social media to facilitate civic education. Hydara encouraged the participants to use these Apps in putting their audiences into demographic segmentations to easily reach their targeted audiences.
At the end of the seminar, participants expressed satisfaction with the training, and commended ”Gambia Participates” for organizing such an event for youth.
The Gambia is expected to hold its presidential election on December 4, 2021 and already, the stakes are high as political parties and their supporters are crisscrossing the country as well as held their congresses in preparations for the highly anticipated presidential polls, that most political pundits described as the defining moment for the country.
Gambia Participates is a youth-led civil society organization that focuses on enhancing transparency and accountability in the public sector.
