The rejected Draft Constitution still stands a chance of being re-table before the National Assembly, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General Dawda Jallow has hinted. 

“At least by March… if we table it in the National Assembly (and) if we’re lucky it got passed, we can still have the referendum in time before the election. This is still possible. It’s tight but it is possible.”

He added: “The document failed because there was no consensus around it. We want the process to be led by people we can trust, not me. Our role here as a ministry is to facilitate, probably raised the necessary funding and logistics to support that process.

“This would be led by people that can be trusted and their objective is to get the necessary consensus around the document. 

“The document failed because there was no consensus around it. If they can help us reach a consensus, it’s a political process, we cannot divorce politics from this. It is a political process. The parliament, a lot of politics goes in the parliament. So we need to get them on board. We need to find a way.”

Mr Jallow said: “We’re pressed for time but it is possible. We’re working towards having this process completed not before the end of November but somewhere around that. 

“So, if we’re able to get everything done and we get a document that we can gazette, say end of November or December, we can meet the three months gazette period you are trying to refer to in the constitution which is a requirement.”

Reporting by Adama Makasuba