Gambiaj.com – (Banjul, the Gambia)- In the wake of President Adama Barrow’s forceful removal of the Auditor General of the National Audit Office after rejecting a ministerial post, 13 Civil Society Organisations joined forces to demand an immediate reinstatement of the Auditor General, Mr. Modou Ceesay.
The CSOs believe democratic governance is not a privilege but a fundamental right – the only path to freedom, justice, and dignity.
On that day of the commemoration of the International Day of Democracy, was when the Auditor General was forcefully removed from his office, a move the CSO believe is an assault on constitutionalism and democracy in the Gambia.
The Gambia’s democracy is young and fragile. For over two decades, Gambians lived under the grip of dictatorship. In 2016, it was the courage of ordinary citizens, women and men, young and old that lawfully brought an end to that dark era. Some paid the ultimate price for this freedom.
The CSOs honour and remember the country’s fallen heroes and heroines, whose sacrifice secured citizens’ right to live in dignity and liberty.
“Less than a decade later, the very foundations of this hard-won democracy are under direct attack. The bitter irony of history is that the individual who benefited most from the people’s rejection of dictatorship, President Adama Barrow, is now dismantling the very democratic order that elevated him to power,” Lamin Dibba, a member of the Center For Budget and Macroeconomic Transparency (CBMT) told journalists while reading the joint statement of the 13 CSOs.
”In blatant violation of the Constitution and the National Audit Office (NAO) Act, the President has unlawfully and forcefully removed the Auditor General, the head of one of The Gambia’s most vital independent accountability institutions,” Mr. Dibba further told Journalists.
The CSOs contended that the removal of the Auditor General is an illegal act that represents not only a direct assault on democracy and the rule of law, but also an attack on the sovereignty of the Gambian people.
“Worse still, the President has turned the police into instruments of repression, weaponizing them to intimidate citizens who exercise their constitutional rights to free expression and peaceful assembly,” Mr. Dibba said.
The CSOs believed that removal of the Auditor General was neither a mistake, nor was it a misunderstanding. The CSOs said it was a deliberate and calculated assault on accountability, transparency, and democratic governance.
Why the removal of the Auditor General Illegal? The CSOs answered that the legal conditions governing the removal of the Auditor General are clear and unambiguous under the 1997 Constitution and the National Audit Office (NAO) Act of 2015.
Valid Grounds for Removal, as enshrined in the NAO Act of 2015, states that the Auditor General can only be removed from office upon completion of a fixed tenure of nine years; Voluntary resignation; Attaining the mandatory retirement age; Proven cases of incapacity, misconduct, or incompetence as determined by either: A medical board, or A tribunal established by the President.
“None of these legal conditions has been met. Instead, the President has chosen to act outside the law, as though The Gambia were his private estate. This is nothing short of a constitutional coup, where the executive hijacks independent institutions and subverts democratic checks and balances,” Mr. Dibba told Journalists, while explaining why the removal of the Auditor General by President Barrow is unlawful.
The CSOs believe that if this ’unlawful’ action is allowed to stand, no institution or official will be safe. Saying today, it is the Auditor General. Tomorrow, it could be: The Ombudsman; The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC); The Chief Justice; The Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC); Or even the Speaker of the National Assembly
“When independent oversight bodies are undermined, corruption flourishes, human rights protections erode, and the nation slides back into autocracy,” Mr. Dibba further echoed the stands of the CSOs to the Journalists
Demands of the 13 Civil Society Organizations
For the protection of democracy and the rule of law, CSOs make the following urgent demands: Immediate Reinstatement; Lawful Process for Removal; and End to Intimidation and Harassment.
On the issue of Immediate Reinstatement, the CSOs said the Auditor General must be reinstated without delay to complete the lawful nine-year tenure.
On the issue of Lawful Process for Removal, the CSOs said that should the President seek removal, it must be done strictly according to the Constitution and NAO Act, by convening a medical board or tribunal as required by law.
End of Intimidation and Harassment, the CSOs demanded that the Gambia Police Force must cease all unlawful actions against the Auditor General and any citizen exercising their constitutional rights.
“Their duty is to protect the Republic, not serve as enforcers of illegal executive orders,” Mr. Dibba said.
In defense of Democracy, the CSOs vowed that they will not relent, and will not allow the sacrifices of April 10/11 Students, Deyda Hydara, Solo Sandeng, and countless other fallen heroes and heroines to be in vain.
“We will not surrender our hard-won freedoms to creeping autocracy. We will resist using every lawful and peaceful means until: The Auditor General is reinstated, Due process is respected, and The laws of The Gambia prevail over the whims of individuals,” CSOs vowed.
