By Fatou Sillah
Nenneh Cheyassin Kebe, the vice-presidential candidate of the People’s Progressive Party, said in an interview on Thursday that the country’s Independent Electoral Commission lacks independence, following its decision to deny registration to the Golden Era Party, which she co-founded with Saikou Sawo.
Speaking during her appearance on Kerr Fatou, Ms. Kebe said the commission’s ruling did not come as a surprise. She suggested that there had been prior indications that several political groups would be denied registration and raised concerns about how the commission verified membership lists submitted by applicants.
“They are not an independent body; I stand by that,” she said, adding that she had been informed by what she described as a credible source that six parties seeking registration would be unsuccessful.
Ms. Kebe also criticized the commission for what she described as a lack of transparency in its handling of her party’s application. She said the Golden Era Party had submitted 12,000 names as part of its registration requirements, but that the commission rejected the list without providing supporting documentation or specific evidence.
“You can’t come to me and tell me all 12,000 names we gave you are wrong, and you don’t give me the names. We asked them for supporting documentation, and they told us no,” she said
She added that the party had retained copies of all submitted materials, which she said could be used to verify the information provided. Dismissing the entire list without explanation, she argued, was unreasonable.
“It is not possible for the entire package to be wrong; it is not. Those 12,000 names we gave them, we have copies of those 12,000 names in the lawyer’s office.”
Ms. Kebe further said that party representatives were not given an opportunity to question the decision, describing the process as predetermined. She also alleged that during discussions, some individuals suggested the possibility of criminal charges related to claims that the list contained names of deceased persons.
“We were not allowed to ask why; it is what they said it was, and that was it. I felt like it was a show; they brought us there just to prove a point, but the decision had already been made. There were some people who were saying at the table that they should file criminal charges against us because we had dead people’s names on there,” she said.
The Independent Electoral Commission has not publicly responded to the allegations.
Ms. Kebe expressed broader concerns about the commission’s transparency, particularly in an election year, and urged the public to pay close attention to its actions.
“Everything is a show,” she said. “I think Gambians should be very worried.”
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