By Tabora Bojang on tour
The UDP National Assembly member for Sandu, Muhammed Mahanera has not bothered himself to attend any of President Barrow’s meetings in his constituency.
His absence was raised by Lands Minister Musa Drammeh at one of the gatherings in the ongoing meet the people tour.
Mr Drammeh comes from the same constituency and he was apparently not happy with the NAM’s absence. He accused the NAM of not standing for the interest of his people.
“The absence of one man does not have any effect on this gathering; it is all zero because the people he represents attended. We will not write to any member of parliament to attend the meetings. If they wish they can attend but if they wish otherwise, that’s it,” Drammeh said.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly member Mahanera has since recorded an audio explaining why he was not at the President’s meeting.
“In the first place I was not informed by anybody about the supposed meetings in my constituency. But also my work as a NAM is different from that of a minister or a president. I am busy with my job as a member of the assembly currently debating on the national budget,” he explained.
However, Musa Drammeh was not satisfied with the NAM’s reasons for staying away from the president’s meetings.
“Yes we understand the work of the parliament and in fact I know that better than him, but to claim that he is not officially informed is not true. The office of the secretary general wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly about the tour and since the speaker acknowledged receiving the letter, that represents the voice of all members,” Minister Drammeh told a large audience in Sandu Darsilameh Tuesday.
He assured the president that he and the people of Sandu will rally behind him.
