The Barrow government’s decision to create two additional ministries has been met with some scepticism over the administration’s financial capability to run the two effectively and efficiently.
The ministries of communication and digital economy as well as the civil service were afterthought to government’s current budgetary allocations.
Hence, questions have been asked as to the strength of government’s financial muscles to sustain any further fiscal pressure.
Government is currently struggling to meet its financing needs, hence resorting to international financial institutions like the IMF.
Meanwhile, the Gambia government spokesperson, Ebrima G. Sankareh, was convinced that the detachment of the digital economy ministry from the ministry of information and the upgrading of the Personnel Management Office (PMO) would only enhance quality in the civil service.
He was, however, not sure whether government has the financial resources to have them kicking.
On the question of the project’s novelty, the Gambia government spokesman said: “Basically, the ministries are new but you can say they have always existed. What has happened is just an upgrade of what existed.
“When you look at Ministry of Information Technology Infrastructure…the ministry of information was a department and communication infrastructure another department. So, these two departments are now separated into two separate departments”.
Sankareh recalled 2016 when, he said, the Gambia government through the National Development Plan (NDP) embarked on the civil service reform to strengthen civil service reform and create an administrative cadre that will measure up to international day of bureaucracy and management of public service.
The Barrow government, he added, decided to upgrade the PMO and create a superior office in the ministry of civil service…
