By: Hon. Foday NM Drammeh Former Tumana Constituency
Augmenting the President’s annual budget of meet the people tour in 2025 proposed budget is a major slip-up. I think any attempt to justify this allocation amounts to insanity. It’s purely politically motivated and has no apparent benefit for the poor and hungry Gambians wallowing in misery and destitution. Why would the Barrow-led government politicise every aspect of our lives, including our meager resources?
In fact, it’s laughable to see some NAMs saying that it’s a constitutional mandate for the president to meet with the farmers and discuss with them to know their problems and address them. The challenges faced by Gambian farmers are abound and yet the government does little or nothing meaningful about them. All what the farmers continue to receive from 2017 to date are mere rhetoric and scanty promises. The reality of our status quo is biting all of us in a hard way. Parliamentary debates and concerns these NAMs would raised speak in no uncertain terms with the realities of our country’s failed governance system.
What the National Assembly Members should do right now is to make themselves valuable and respectable in order for them to ask the executive branch of the government to take them seriously when it comes to delivering the messages of their people. It’s not about the people in the Assembly, but rather, it’s about their roles and positions that they hold in the chambers. Certainly,
it’s one of the highest offices in the land.
No one needs to be a rocket scientist to understand what Barrow and his people are doing during the meetings with the so-called farmers tour. It’s during this tour that, the president will rain insults on his opponents and send in a lot of misinformation to the population. Whenever he speaks, he does it like someone who is not at all informed about the way the governance is administered.
He also speaks as though the country has no laws that govern us and that the country has no policies that guide and put our behaviours to check.
When they are justifying the constitutionality of president’s meet with the so-called farmers tour, they should not also forget that the president is also mandated to deliver to the people of the Gambia without fear or favour, which I believe he is not delivering to the wishes and aspirations of an ordinary Gambian.
Where is the new constitution that he promised and the millions of in the constitutional building process? Was it a vanity project in the first place?
If they can justify giving D50 million Dalasis allocation to the president for the so-called meet the farmers tour, they should also draw the attention of the president on some of the clauses of the constitution for providing the basic amenities for the people of the Gambia, create jobs for young people at home, invest in healthcare to prevent maternal and child deaths, and improve our quality of education. These productive sectors of our economy are instead in a state of gross neglect
How many people are in the Urban areas to be more specific, are faced with a nightmare of drinking from a clean and safe water provided by the government. Barrow’s administration lacks the capabilities of providing clean and safe drinking water for the residents of Bundung, Fagikunda, Lateikunda, Tallinding Kunjang, Kanifing South and Estate, and many more other places within the Greater Banjul area, not to talk about the provincial Gambia.
In fact, some hospitals in the country are sometimes faced with difficulties to do certain critical medical activities or procedures due to a lack of clean and safe water in the facilities.
Many of the residents cannot dig boreholes for themselves because of their locations. If they do, due to ecological factors, their water would be contaminated. So, access to portal water remains a lifetime denial for these constituents of our population. Therefore, I hope that the government will now come up with a water bill that will address a lot of problems affecting the lives of ordinary Gambians.
What is Barrow’s government doing in regards to high prices of basic commodities in the country. A vast majority of Gambians are extremely suffering to make ends meet. The majority of Gambians are struggling to put up with the daily three square meals for their families.
When it comes to rent and its related matters, what is the government doing in that regards? How many times Barrow have been meeting with farmers and they have been telling him the same stories from 2017 to date and what has been done about those plights? Nothing at all!
When it comes to youth employment and employability in the Gambia, what is Barrow’s administration doing to meaningfully impact the lives and the livelihoods of the youths in the Gambia? Virtually nothing! Today in Barrow’s administration the only thing he is rendering to the youths of the Gambia is empty promise upon empty promise.
He Promised to create 150,000 jobs for youths in 5 years. How far has he gone with that promise?
Now the promise he is making to the youths is selling our youths to Spain and Saudi Arabia with no clear MOU and the nation needs answers to all the questions that his citizens are asking.
How many people will the government be sending to both Spain and Saudi Arabia and on what terms and conditions?
For how long will this so-called labour deal continue?
I’m calling on the NAMs to reject this proposed amount of D50 million, and slice it to D5 million to safe poor taxpayers from another grandiose waste of money with no benefit to the Gambians, but to Barrow and and his NPP.
I think, this is just a trick. They put D50 million so if NAMs want to negotiate it, they will end up having their intended amount for the president. Legislators everywhere in the world are important people in countries’ development puzzles. As such, I challenge all NAMs to genuinely defend their constituencies and The Gambia in the face of a daylight robbery of Gambians to exorbitantly pay president Barrow’s insignificant meet with the farmers tour in 2025. Let justice guides our actions towards the common good!
