The Gambia Association of Local Government Authorities (GALGA) has signed an agreement with the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) to encourage Gambia Local Councils to mobilize their own local resources in addition to their tax collection domain.
The agreement was signed following CLGF’s approval of a GALGA project titled Local Government Resource Mobilization, lobbying, and Advocacy Strategies Project for GALGA and local councils in The Gambia. The project will support GALGA in developing resource mobilization, lobbying, and advocacy strategies for the eight local government authorities in The Gambia and for itself.
Signed on behalf of GALGA by its President and sitting Chairman of Basse Area Council, Mahamadou Ceesay, and on behalf of CLGF by Ms Claire Frost, Head of Programs, the agreement entails CLGF’s provision of funding to GALGA to develop resource mobilisation tools for local councils through an EU-funded project on Empowering Local Authorities in partner countries for enhanced governance and more effective development outcomes.
The ten-month project will contract a consultancy firm to develop resource mobilisation, lobbying, and advocacy strategies for local councils, review and validation workshops, and capacity-building training for Local Councils, the Ministry of Lands, Regional Government and Religious Affairs, and the Department of Community Development.
The main target outcome of this project is geared towards encouraging Local Councils in The Gambia to invest in their own local resource mobilization. This will first allow them to identify hidden resources within their jurisdictions and mobilize them for increased service delivery.
This project fits well within the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) programme objectives, which are designed to respond to members’ needs, strengthen local governance, capacity, and skills base to improve service delivery, help tackle poverty, and deliver development, including the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
GALGA President Mahamadou Ceesay expressed deep gratitude to CLGF for their profound understanding of the imperative to foster the mobilization of our ‘own’ resources within ‘our’ esteemed Councils. “This strategic approach shall undoubtedly foster an exponential enhancement in providing indispensable services to our esteemed taxpayers”.
He said with the development of the envisaged documents, GALGA has high expectations that there will be a positive shift in Local Councils’ resource mobilization, and their capacities will be enhanced to lobby for projects and advocate good practices in local governance, particularly on voluntary tax payment.
Ms Claire Frost, Head of Programs for CLGF, said among others, the pilot project looks to build productive intergovernmental relations through dialogue on the priority issues.
She said it will also build the capacity of local government authorities to play their essential role in intergovernmental relations and ensure that the local government’s voice is heard in policy-making and implementation.
