BANJUL, 30 August 2021: The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad, Dr. Mamadou Tangara, on Monday 23 August, 2021 received a delegation from the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
The delegation led by Professor Edward Tshidiso MALOKA was accompanied to the country by Gambia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the African Union, Her Excellency Jainaba Jagne and the Deputy Head of Mission, Mr. Muhammed Mboob.
Dr. Tangara welcomed the APRM delegation to the Foreign Ministry and commended the team for the noble task that they have embarked on. He noted that Africa should not wait for other people to give them lessons to learn from. The Foreign Minister implored the team to continue engaging stakeholders with a view to realising dreams and aspirations of APRM.
Foreign Minister Tangara used the opportunity to extend congratulations to the African Union for providing APRM the required resources to fulfil its mandate to the people of Africa. The Minister observed that Africa needs strong leaders and strong institutions in order to make a giant leap in meeting expectations of the people of Africa. He added that APRM has contributed in the drive to spur governance, human rights and economic growth in countries.
Commenting on the Transitional Justice process that started in the aftermath of authoritarian rule in 2017, Dr. Tangara said a lot of progress has been registered in boosting good governance in all the sectors.
He briefed that there is an ongoing security sector review which started paying dividend by ensuring that people with right caliber and education take positions of responsibility which goes to boost professionalism in sectors. The Honourable Minister dwelt on government’s strategy to curb poverty, noting that poverty continues serve as a fertile ground for terrorists. He indicated that there has been a remarkable success in the ongoing reform process whilst assuring that efforts would continue to consolidate the democratic gains registered.
For his part, Professor Edward Tshidiso MALOKA said APRM is one of the spin-offs of the African development framework which offers a unique approach to the monitoring of agreed norms of political, economic and cooperate governance on the continent. This exercise, he went on, gives citizens in respective countries the opportunity to review themselves. He said that The Gambia made significant improvement in the areas of governance, human rights, and security which could serve as a lesson for other countries.
Source: Foreign Ministry
