The Gambia applies to re-join Commonwealth

PIC: Gambian President Adama Barrow made the decision to applying for readmission in February last year. (Credit: AFP)

MEMBERSHIP 

The Gambia has presented to the Commonwealth Secretary General, Patricia Scotland its formal application to rejoin the organisation.

The formal application was presented to Scotland by Ambassador Francis Blain at Marlborough House early this week.

The Gambia became a member of the Commonwealth on achieving independence in 1965. It withdrew from membership in 2013. The decision to begin the process of applying for readmission was made in February last year by President Adama Barrow, who came to power following elections in December 2016.

The Gambia is a small West African country, bounded by Senegal, with a narrow Atlantic coastline. According to 2016 records, the country has a population of slightly over two million people.

Having received this formal application, the next step is for the secretary general to assess whether there is consensus among the heads of government of existing member countries for The Gambia to rejoin the Commonwealth family of nations.

The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent and equal sovereign states, where member governments have agreed to pursue shared goals such as development, democracy and peace. These values and principles are expressed in the Commonwealth Charter.

The Commonwealth spans the globe, including both advanced economies and developing countries, in Africa including Uganda, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas, Europe and the Pacific.

It has a combined population of 2.4 billion people, of which more than 60& is aged under 30. Thirty members are small states, with a population under two million, and 25 are island nations.

A network of more than 80 intergovernmental, civil society, cultural and professional organisations help member countries to put Commonwealth values and principles into action.

A Commonwealth member state that has withdrawn or was expelled from the Commonwealth is required to reapply for membership. Although Commonwealth heads have not set out any re-joining criteria, it is expected that a country would demonstrate that it continues to uphold the principles and values of the Commonwealth that it espoused when it first joined.