Former Prime Minister of Tanzania to lead Commonwealth Observers for the Presidential Election in The Gambia
11 September 2006
Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon today announced that the Commonwealth Observer Group for the Presidential Election in The Gambia will be led by Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, former Prime Minister of Tanzania and former Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity, now called the African Union.
Mr McKinnon said that the Observer Group has been established in response to an invitation from the Government of The Gambia. It will consist of 10 eminent persons, supported by five Commonwealth Secretariat staff. The other Observers are:
Hon Akua Dansua MP | Ms Daphne de Klerk |
Mrs Priscilla Kare | Mr Jeremiah M. Matagaro |
Ms Hajra Mungula | Hon Dr Eastlyn McKenzie MP |
Ms Marie Neilson | Mr P.M. Siriwardhane |
Mr Eli Turk |
The Secretariat support staff will be led by Professor Ade Adefuye, Head of the Africa Section, Political Affairs Division. An Advance Team consisting of two observers has been present in The Gambia since 1 September 2006 and will report to the main Observer Group on arrival.
The Observers have been invited in their individual capacities and the views they express regarding the elections will be their own and not those either of their respective governments or of the Commonwealth Secretariat.
At the end of its work, the Group will submit its report to the Commonwealth Secretary-General. He will then transmit it to the Government of The Gambia, The Gambia Independent Electoral Commission and the political parties taking part in the elections. The Secretary-General will thereafter circulate copies to all Commonwealth governments, following which the report will be made public.
Note to Editors
The Observer Group will start work on 18 September 2006, when it will hold a press conference at Hotel Kairaba, Kololi, at 9 a.m.
An Assessment Mission from the Commonwealth Secretariat visited The Gambia last month and established that there was broad support in the country for the presence of Commonwealth Observers.
The Terms of Reference for the 2006 Observer Group are:
The Group is established by the Commonwealth Secretary-General at the request of the Government of The Gambia. It is to observe relevant aspects of the organisation and conduct of the Presidential Election scheduled to take place on 22 September 2006, in accordance with the laws of The Gambia. It is to consider the various factors impinging on the credibility of the electoral process as a whole and to determine in its own judgement whether the conditions exist for a free expression of will by the electors and if the results of the elections reflect the wishes of the people.
The Group is to act impartially and independently. It has no executive role; its function is not to supervise but to observe the process as a whole and to form a judgement accordingly. It would also be free to propose to the authorities concerned such action on institutional, procedural and other matters as would assist the holding of such elections.
The Group is to submit its report to the Commonwealth Secretary-General, who will forward it to the Government of The Gambia, the Independent Electoral Commission, the leadership of the political parties taking part in the elections and thereafter to all Commonwealth Governments.”
The Commonwealth Secretary-General sent a Commonwealth Observer Group to the last Presidential Election in The Gambia, held in 2001.
For media enquiries, please contact Julius Mucunguzi, Communications Officer, at the Kairaba Hotel in Kololi,The Gambia, at Tel:+220 446 5605 or Mobile: +220 9898524.
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