By Makutu Manneh
Mamadi Kurang, a member of the United Democratic Party (UDP), has called on The Gambia’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to publish the complete voters register from the recent supplementary voter registration exercise, arguing that full disclosure is essential to ensure transparency and public confidence in the electoral process.
Speaking on The Brunch, a weekly program on Kerr Fatou, Mr. Kurang urged the electoral commission to restore names that were removed from the voter register, provide the complete register to political parties, and submit the same list to the revising court when it convenes.
He said the commission’s willingness to make the register publicly available would demonstrate its commitment to a transparent electoral process. Conversely, he argued, withholding the information would reinforce concerns among some stakeholders that the process could be vulnerable to manipulation.
“Gambians want the IEC to publish the names of everybody issued with voter cards during the supplementary voter registration,” Mr. Kurang said. “This is information that is to decide the election, so the citizens need to have access to the information.”
Mr. Kurang also criticized the timeframe established by the IEC for the revising court, contending that it would not provide sufficient opportunity for political parties and members of the public to scrutinize changes to the register.
He argued that if tens of thousands of names had been removed from the voters list, the limited review period would make it difficult to verify whether the deletions were justified.
According to Mr. Kurang, the revising court would have limited value if concerns over the integrity of the register are not addressed beforehand, warning that inaccuracies could ultimately affect who is eligible to vote.
“How can we trust a register that removed mistakes amounting to around 10,000 to 20,000?” he asked.
During the program, the host of The Brunch told viewers that attempts had been made to obtain a response from IEC officials regarding the concerns raised, but no clarification had been provided by the time of the broadcast.
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