41. Are there limits on the amount a candidate can spend?

9. CAMPAIGN FINANCE

Campaign finance is very lightly regulated, with an absence of legal provisions to restrain the undue impact of money in campaigning. Individual Gambian citizens, civil society organisations and private entities may all make campaign contributions. Donations from corporations and unincorporated bodies and from all foreign entities are prohibited. There are no ceilings on donations or expenditure, while there are also no monitoring and enforcement mechanisms in place. A state party to the UN Convention against Corruption since 2015, law reform is required to ensure that the obligations to ensure transparency and fairness are complied with. Overall, parties and candidates lacked financial means to diversify and intensify the campaign. The Coalition 2016 campaign was funded by some wealthy individuals and the diaspora. They distributed vehicles and money to member-parties, proportionate to the number of candidates. Independent candidates, supporting the Coalition 2016, also received some resources. The Coalition 2016 representatives did not disclose to the EU EOM the amount of funds at its disposal. Wealthy party members paid for the APRC and the GDC campaigns. Again, the costs were not disclosed.

European Union Election Observation Mission to the Gambia National Assembly Elections, 6 April 2017, Preliminary Statement, available at https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/eu_eom_the_gambia_preliminary_statement_3.pdf accessed February 2018.