Justice Cherno Sulayman Jallow, Chairman of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) has emphatically stated that CRC is not a religious organization, stressing that the Commission does not represent any interest religious group, political groups or other.
He was speaking at Jareng Village in the Niamina East District, Central River Region (CRR) of the country, where scores of Christians suggested that the commission should insert the word ‘SECULAR’ in the Draft Constitution that is currently under review.
“The CRC is not a religious organization, is not a political organization and it doesn’t represent any particular interest of these groups, it represent the interest of every Gambian and everything about The Gambia,” said CRC Chairman, Justice Cherno Sulayman Jallow, QC.
According to him, neither Christian nor Muslims should harbor the fear that their views and aspirations submitted will not be considered, adding that commission has written down all the concerns and contributions submitted by each and every Gambian.
He said all the views express in all the venue will be considered in the final report, assuring that any view that is not captured in the New Constitution will be reflected in the recommendations that will accompany the Constitution.
“Everything that you have suggested is written down and I can assure you that we will properly consider them. What we told everybody across the country is that everything that have been said cannot all go into New Constitution and anything that is not captured into the Constitution we will reflect it in our recommendations,” said Justice Cherno Sulayman Jallow.
Chairman Jallow hailed the continuous participation of the Christian community in making the draft constitution, adding that the participation of the Christian community depicts the fact that they are part of the process.
“To my Christian brothers and sisters, we thank you for coming here and participate in this process, it is your process because you are very much part of this process. I want to assure you that all your recommendations and contributions will be considered,” Chairman CRC assured Christian in the country.
Many Christians including Pastors who contributed in the ongoing nationwide discussion has called on the CRC to insert the word ‘SECULAR’ in the New Constitution, arguing that inscribing the word ‘Secular’ will give guarantee to the Christian population and protect them in the New Gambia against the fear of Muslim domination of Christians in the country.