‘Coalition will not commemorate 2-year anniversary’

By Omar Bah The chairperson of the Coalition media team in the West Coast Region, Essa Dampha has confirmed to The Standard that the Coalition government will not commemorate its 2-year anniversary. This, he said, is because the day coincided with the visit of president’s sympathizers from the West Coast Region. “We will not commemorate December 1st anniversary this year. But we will want to talk about some of the achievements that we were able to register in the past two years to remind Gambians that we have not done as bad as they are claiming,” he said. He thanked Gambians who have contributed directly or indirectly in making the change possible. “This government under the leadership of President Adama Barrow has already exceeded the mandate they were tasked during the formation of the Coalition. Our main target as a government was to reform the governance system. It is an open secret to every Gambian that all the needed reforms are underway,” he observed. Mr Dampha said the recent announcement of salary increment by 50% is another significant commitment taken by the Barrow-led administration. “If you go to other sectors, such as the judiciary you will realize that since the advent of this new government there are significant changes in the composition of the Superior and lower courts in the sense that they have taken charge of their operations without any government interference,” he noted. He continued: “If you look at the Supreme Court, the government has already appointed seven judges to keep the courts running as opposed to the former regime. If you go to the private sector and the parastatals there are no more executive directives from the top. The government is also working closely with the private sector as opposed to the former government.” He said the way and manner in which the constitutional review commission is also conducting its consultations is unprecedented in the history of the country, adding that this demonstrates the transparency and accountability of the Coalition government. The TRRC, he added, is also another significant step in government’s efforts to ensuring human rights. “This year our economic status has grown to 6.8% which warranted the government to propose increment of salaries next year. More investors are also coming to the country because the environment is conducive. In terms of infrastructural development, the government is also making great strive,” he noted. “Our only big challenge right now is unifying all divergent views to ensure that people understand their rights and responsibilities as citizens. We believe as citizens we should not only focus on criticizing government, we should provide solutions and as well contribute our quarter in developing the country,” he added.]]>