Gaye Sowe and Maria Saine period, the continuing legacy of colonial trends into the independence era, and the vision of citizenship adopted by the leaders. The framers of The Gambian Constitution incorporated a broadly ius sanguinis model of citizenship in 1997, with the insertion of notions of descent, marriage and naturalisation into the discourse of citizenship. The Gambia’s judiciary track record in playing the role of interpretation and adjudicating matters has been less stellar on this issue than on most other constitutional issues. This makes it necessary for other institutional actors and civil society actors to step in and prevent a situation where the right to citizenship is being cut short. Constitutional stability requires a balance amongst competing groups and their interests, and the current Gambian constitution exhibits a tendency to move towards a constitutional imbalance, especially after the Draft Constitution 2020 by the CRC was rejected at the National Assembly. On the issue of citizenship and other constitutional matters, civil society and academics can play a vital role in raising the profile of these issues. 14 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2021/7 © 2021 Author(s)