(JollofNews) – Cabinet ministers of the Gambia have used a three-day retreat at the luxurious Coral Beach Hotel to set out key governance policies.
The ministers said over the coming the years, they will use their various offices to accelerate the socio-economic development of the Gambia by prioritising the accelerate economic revival and transformation underpinned by strong economic management; robust institutional development, reinforce the enabling environment for the private sector, and domestic and foreign investment; expand the industrial sector, trade and regional integration; redynamise the tourism and fisheries sectors; and ensure effective land use planning and management.
They also pledged to promote investments in infrastructure and energy, modernise and revitalise the agricultural sector and agribusiness, with the aim of achieving food security and rural development, promote youth development and employment, ensure the safety and security of all Gambians, provide health care and education systems, mobilise domestic and external resources to support development efforts, strengthen citizens’ engagement in governance and development, with attention to gender equality and empowerment of women and youth, enhance rule of law and justice, and establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to promote social cohesion and durable peace; and end the Gambia’s isolation and strengthen its relationships with other countries in the sub-region, the continent and the rest of the world.
The cabinet ministers pledged to perform their duties guided by the principles of probity, accountability and transparency, inclusivity, justice and rule of law, effective civil service delivery, patriotic altruism, togetherness, resort to legal means for dispute resolution, pragmatism, openness to new ideas and criticism, detribalisation, modesty in lifestyle and collaboration with regional, continental and international stakeholders.
During the retreat, which was aimed at creating a platform where relationships of trust and communication between key leadership is strengthened to help restore social harmony, the ministers were addressed by President Adama Barrow, who commended the meeting for recognising the importance of peace and reconciliation as an essential requirement for democratic stability and economic development.
The president urged his cabinet to strengthen the capacities of their ministries, create policies to ensure transparency and accountability of public officials, enhance youth employment; promote women’s equality and empowerment, ensure judicious use of state resources and to demonstrate high standards of integrity.
I hate to sound pessimistic in light of the the statements above from the Ministers of State but generic pronouncements in broad areas alone are not enough in this day and age!
Reminds me of PPP era jargon plus embellished grand speech!
Show us the meat of things. Otherwise better said in Wollof, TOJJ LENE YAHH BI or ALLY KULO TEYE, in Manding. You see this is a generational gap thing I believe. Wjatever is being offered appears hollow and belongs of old.
Why should this government come to expect that Gambians will accept generic policy pronouncements like, creating employment for Gambian youth, attention to gender equality and empowerment of women and youth, minimizing fiscal imbalances, mobilizing domestic and external resources, reinforce the enabling environment for the private sector, boosting agricultural production, enhancing socioeconomic and strong economic management.
For God’s sake, stay away from PPP era playbook jargon. We have heard this all before from a demon with a different shade and hue. It is clear that broad, vague and what represents the “macro” approach, a favorite of rusty economics, wouldn’t carry muster for most enlightened Gambians, We are certainly should know better now than to seek to placate Gambians with mumbo jumbo! My pal Balla would respond, MOLU KARANG TALEH SILANG!!
Tell us the MICRO strategies.
In plain terms, tell Gambians HOW and WHEN you plan to meet these goals. That’s partly the reason that The Government of The Gambia (GOTG) invests in training Gambians to levels that match those of western world counterparts. So there’s no question that Gambian planners can do this if they will roll up their shirt sleeves, loosen the ill-placed ties and GET TO WORK!! Show your Gambian sisters and brothers that you are up to the task and that you do not show up for work only to linger around the air conditioned offices or get to be feted at 3-4 Star hotel conferences and workshops!
D A JAWO, please help us out here!! You’ve got the standards, you’re relatively younger and you are clear on the expectations of Gambians going forward! Rally your kind in the new cabinet and get them to work to make a difference. My advice is that if you let the line staff have a field day, they’ll never deliver the desired results. It’ll be a funeral or NGENTEH/KUNG LIYO everyday!
So, you’ve got our collective sympathies working for you here. Stay on top of those LAZY (yes, I said it) public servants so the nation gets good value for the salaries and other emoluments that we pay them!! My two cents! Phew, I’m getting weary!! Why do I feel like a lone preacher without a congregation? Smile!
And… HAMAT BAH, get that silly hat off of your head and get to work!
You’re not a tourist attraction like the MASAI Moran in Kenya!
Hey!, Pjalo, you can’t talk to Hamat Bah like that. That is a very old pose. Eh? How can you say, ‘… that silly hat…’. Eh?
What? Masai Moran in what?
Please, for God sake.
Your tolerance for ‘the hat’ will be very much appreciated.
Not fair at all! He is adult and can wear what he wants, and not be shouted at!
By the way, the Fulani and the Masai are inter-related from back in Africa’s history, hence the similarity in, in this case, Hats
Hi Andrew you dont need to insult Hamat Bah. he is an elderly person. let us have respect for our elders. every individual have a right to promote his or her culture. we should be proud of our tribe we belong.
A basic principal in a primary school is to gather the children in a group to deliver a single thought. 1×1 is 2
2×2 is 4
3×3 is 6 or is it 8?
Hand up : Please teacher can I go to the lavatory ?
Not one single policy to be had anywhere; Keep the wages and expenses coming boy’s.
It’s a joke.
Maybe the Russian’s can lead a hand whilst mining your Uranium ?
Andrew/ Dida….You have been told off.
Its swahili Joe,,,,,dressed in red jumping higher and higher hatless and hapless lol
Yep Mike that’s a Masai Moran (not moron). Moran is a noble title accorded to the jumping and hapless male kind of Joe, clad in red/orange bare basics that leave everything to the imagination and the wind. Haha! My apologies to Oloi Halake and Oloi Sicales (Scales) the Muzungu from Masai-Mara.
Young folks going to bat for the elders eh? Don’t you always claim to be smarter than the old folks that belong to the museum? I am quickly becoming a relic too albeit with much respect for seniors that have worked to earn the title Old Pa! Like Ousainou Darbo that’s also becoming a relic. Smile!
Did I just stir the hornet’s nest Dida, Balla and Jack?
Okay. It’s all in kind humor. Bourne will oversee my salvation!
I can go digging for Ilmenite too, in Kartong, home to my favorite Tambaa fruit, if that’s where you’d relegate me. I can deal with the Tambaa induced constipation too!
Isn’t Sidi Bojang from Kartong? He may recall the old Tambaa song by the red monkeys of the Kartong marshland.
Hey Jack!
I’ve got a Fulani hat (Tengaado) and a Chinese one in my hat collection. I collect hats for a hobby.
So, no disrespect for the Fulani or any hat.
There’s a Wollof saying that “Sagari Mbahana, Mor Genn Bopi Nene”.
And I also document what is, Ollof Njai Ne Na and Manding Mansaalingo for a hobby and to stay wiser too!
Come on man,
No one knows what a collection item worths without it being exhibited.
Anyway one thing I admire your type of character is versatility. Rarely Gambians are deep in all those languages. Great!
Whatever disguise you wear, you will always be Dida the East African wildebeest.
Oh beard-ed one.
Teresa May announces greatest shake up of mental health in 30 years
Please avail yourself my dear>>>Its on the national health and free at point of sale.
For thoughs with an identity crisis.
“Those”….with identity crisis. am speaking swahili there/
It shouldn’t be a surprise Swahili becomes a language of great interest.
This government speaks a language I am not familiar with.
Have they given a cost for this wish list ? No
Have they explained where the money will come from ? No
Have they given the budget each department will work to ? No
Have they they provided a cash flow forecast year on year ? No
Have they Planned the Journey ? No
Can they give a time frame for completion ? No
It is a wordless book full of chapters, with no Beginning no Middle and no End.
Even a new start business can produce its blueprint to a commercial bank.
With such a heavy wish list with no planning, limited cash flow, and minimal finance, it has no chance of moving 50 yards off the starting block. All you will get is too many department heads screaming for the limited cash available. With no financial mechanism to oversee and control its own spending. Meanwhile this government spends unlimited money on its own self as if it were Dubai.
Is this a 100 metre dash or a marathon ? Who can say ?
A Language foreign to any business man or woman of worth.
Sorry about that/
According to The Minister of Finance. Gambia’s total gross domestic product {its annual income} is 8% short of financing its total annual debt servicing.
The Gambian government must cut its own overheads and concentrate on what it can do today to increase its revenue and not what it intends to do tomorrow.
What is vital is that the next round of loans and grants must be put into reducing its overheads and increasing its income. Its not “rocket science”
I am highly concerned about the cost of the luxury hotel and what will happen next? Never heard before all entire government in the luxury hotel as office 🙁
You are not alone about the hotel bills. I don’t really understand why he is still using the hotel.