By Foday Manneh
The incumbent and opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) candidate for the Basse Area Council chairmanship, Foday Danjo, has said that his intention for re-election is to complete some of his development plans for the people of the Upper River Region.
Mr. Danjo made these remarks while speaking to journalists after successfully submitting his papers for nomination on Monday, May 1, 2023, at the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) office in URR before the May elections.
“I think there are many things I could not achieve during my first five years. And achieving all your aspirations in the first five years is not always easy because you need to plan how to implement them. I was able to achieve some, but I have quite a number of them I want to achieve next,” Danjo said.
“We want to link Basse Area Council to the Western world. If we do that, we will be able to have a lot of developments and partners. We need to get very serious partners to bring meaningful development to the people of URR. I am sure when I come back for a second term, and I will be able to bridge that gap between other councils and us,” he added.
The UDP man has also considered some of his achievements in office during the last five years, describing them as “unprecedented” for the region and believing that if given another chance, he would bring more to his people.
“We have changed the lives and livelihoods of our people. We have done a lot of projects here without any political interference. One thing is that when we return to the office, there will be no politics again because the people of URR entrusted us with the mandate. So we have to give everything to them.”
“I am sure that the development I have done in the last five years is unprecedented for the past 50 years; such has never happened. So this is why I thought if I am given a chance for the second time, I would be able to do something that will benefit the people of URR,” Danjo told reporters.
Meanwhile, Danjo noted some of the challenges they have encountered in office but said most were impacted by the country’s economic hardship and the government’s lack of support towards councils.
“We found some challenges on our way, but we could go through and control most of them. When it comes to finance, we all know we have economic hardship in the country, and for people to pay their rates and taxes is always difficult for us. We have about D4 million on areas that are still not paid,”
“The government only gives D1 million or D2 million. What can that do for the people of URR? It must do something other than look at the projects we have done. This government is not serious about development. I am urging them to work with local councils for the development of the people.
The incumbent chairperson concluded that he has a strategic plan, if reversed, that would bring about many developments to the people of URR, which he said would address the challenges faced by most communities in accessing clean water and other necessities.
