Deputies at the National Assembly on Monday unanimously enacted the Constitution of The Gambia amendment bill.

This bill seeks to replace the nomenclature of secretary of state with the title of minister. According to the country’s attorney general and secretary of state for Justice, Marie Saine-Firdaus, who tabled the bill, in most jurisdiction the title of secretary of state is lower than that of the minister. The former is a junior rank and different from the latter, and as a result of this, The Gambia’s secretaries of state have had difficulties, explaining to their counterparts in other countries that they are not junior ministers. She said they have also found it very difficult to relate with some of their peers especially within the African continent, due to this misunderstanding.

"This is more profound in respect of the secretary of state for Foreign Affairs, when he travels abroad to transact businesses concerning our foreign and diplomatic relations," she stated.

This amendment seeks to put an end to this unfortunate misunderstanding by restoring the name minister and ministery, inline with international practice. SoS Saine-Firdaus made it clear that the change does not in anyway affect the functions and responsibilities of these officials as provided in the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia; it only affects the name.

Accordingly, section 71 of the Constitution is also amended to move the limit on the number of ministers who may be appointed to cabinet. She argued that this is intended to provide flexibility in the number of ministers who may be appointed at any given moment in time, depending on the circumstances.

Hon. Seedy Njie, nominated member (youth rep) seconded the motion. For Hon Seedia Jatta, member for Wuli West, "a constitution is a dialectically support instrument; if you touch one part there is a change in that other one too." During the same sitting, NAMs also enacted the Judges Supplementary Code of Conduct Bill. The move was supported and unanimously enacted.