ALSO IN THIS ROUNDUP...
- PAC/PEC Not A Witch-hunting Body
- Jammeh sacks Minister Waa Juwara
Hon Muhamed Magassy, National Assembly Member for
Basse Constituency, Upper River Region of the Gambia has backed the right to
demonstrate peacefully and without arms.
He told The
Voice among other things that the right to peaceful demonstration is
entrenched in the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia.
His comments came more than a month after two
Gambian journalists were arrested, detained and slapped with criminal charges
by the police for simply applying for a police permit to demonstrate peacefully
against the August 2012 execution of nine death row inmates on the orders of
Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh.
Baboucarr Ceesay, first vice president of the
Gambian Press Union (GPU) and Abubacarr Saidykhan, a freelance journalist who
were arrested and detained on September 6, are charged with “conspiracy to
commit felony, seditious publication and inciting violence.”
Hon. Magassy cited Section 25 sub-section 1 (d)
of the 1997 Constitution provides that “Every
person shall have the right to freedom to assemble and demonstrate peaceably
and without arms.”
He also referred to 25 sub-section 1 (a) of the 1997
Constitution which states “Every person
shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression,
which shall, include freedom of the press and other media.”
Taranga Fm
Hon Magassy also stressed that the closure of
Taranga FM “is a sad and very unfortunate situation” taking into account the
crucial role the Sinchu-Alhagie-based
Kombo North community radio played in terms of civic awareness.
“Taranga FM is one of the radio stations that have
been updating Gambians on current issues both locally and internationally,”
independent candidate said. “I hope if one media is suffering all the others
should show solidarity, but to my surprise the support is not significant.”
He urges other radio stations to be broadcasting
news to keep the vast uneducated Gambians informed.
Hon Magassy also revealed to The Voice his plan to
hold a consultative dialogue where the civil society, the local authorities and
the public enterprises and agencies will meet to discuss all the problems
hindering progress in the Basse Constituency.
“We will then turn them (the problems) into
objectives and propose possible methods and strategies and work towards
addressing it,” he said.
“This will obviously be the solution to the
problems. A plan for sustainable development will also be designed,” he told The Voice.
Jammeh’s threats
During the heat of the
November 2011 presidential elections, the Gambian president warn that those who
vote against will be deprived of his government’s development programmes.
However, Magassy who won
the ruling party’s candidate in the parliamentary polls in March 2012 described
President Jammeh’s stance as a “political statement.”
“That was just a political tool to rescue the
candidates of his party,” he said.
He said the taxpayers are the sponsors of
government’s development plans and should benefit from government’s development agenda. He
said the government will now request the support of the same people (taxpayers)
to do the financing of its development activities.
He argued that hence governments are formed by the
people; they should be there for the people.
The role of the government is to turn politics into
policies, policies into programmes, and programmes into activities, he
stressed.
Hon. Magassy stressed that the opposition is not an
enemy, but sees the world of governance differently.
“We are also struggling to serve the same Gambia in
a different and desirable manner. It will be a risk to say that we do not have
the interest of the Gambians at heart,” he said.
He concluded by saying that he’ll make sure the
concerns of the people of his constituency are addressed. The majority (in
parliament) will not deprive me from executing my duties, that I owe to my
people and the country accordingly, he told The
Voice.
- PAC/PEC Not A Witch-hunting Body
The Parliamentarian for Illiassa district Hon. Lamin
Kebba Jammeh has told The Voice newspaper that the joint sessions of the
National Assembly select committees of the public accounts and public
enterprises (PAC/PEC) is not a witch hunting body.
He said the committees, whose mandate include
scrutinising the performances (activities and financial) of public enterprises,
serves as a deterrent to the misappropriation of public funds.
The main function is to see whether the money given
to public enterprises are spent according to budget and in line with the
activities carried out by these enterprises during the year, Hon Jammeh, an
accountant told The Voice in Banjul, Gambian capital on October 19, 2012.
The PAC/PEC are statutory committees set up by a
provision entrenched in the 1997 2nd Republican Constitution of The
Gambia.
The Gambia is a democratic country and the country
must be seen to be democratic. One of the institutions that are mandated to
make so that democracy, good governance and rule of law prevails is the
National Assembly (NA), said Hon Jammeh.
“The NA is mandated to play a part as an oversight
function. We are not witch hunting any body and it is unfortunate that people
see us from that angle,” he asserted.
He explained that when public enterprises appear
before the PAC/PEC committees, the head of the relevant institutions are asked
to explain, which is a duty bound to every Gambian and a fulfilment of the
public’s right to know how their monies are been used.
According to him, since the inception of the
committees seven (7) years ago, there have been significant improvements in the
management of public funds by heads of public institutions.
He claimed not a lot of countries are doing the same
as the Gambia regarding the scrutiny of public entities. He explained that this
scrutiny began with the central government bodies such as the ministry of
finance, the national audit office (NAO) and the central government’s main
account (the consolidated fund).
This, according to Hon. Jammeh, is meant to ensure
the proper management of public funds.
Improvement
Hon Jammeh claimed the committees’ registered
significant improvement on the management of taxpayers’ money. “The Gambia
government’s account was having some deadlock of auditing but as at now all the
government accounts are audited and sent to the NA for scrutiny,” he said.
He said the NAO is done with the auditing of Gambia
government account from 2005 to 2010. The Government’s accounts are now been
updated and the government is now very accountable on how it spend public
funds, he claims.
He said in the past, public institutions failed to
honour their duty of submitting their audited financial and activities reports
to the national assembly, now that’s a things of the past. Public enterprises
are very much mindful and judicious in the manner they manage and spend public
funds.
Implementation
The recommendations made by the PAC/PEC at the close
of its session are forwarded to the Gambian President Yahya Jammeh for onward
advice. Public institutions that appear before the committees are obliged to implement
the recommendations, explains Hon Jammeh, who our parliamentary correspondent
say is the youngest in the unicameral legislature of 52.
Lots of recommendations have been forwarded to the
executive since the inception of the PAC/PEC, he revealed.
He admitted there were so many weaknesses in the
financial management and performance of public enterprises before but significant
improvements has been recorded presently.
In his view, the Gambia is moving on the right
direction went it comes to good governance. PAC/PEC is one of the key pillars
of good governance and democracy, he claimed.
- Jammeh sacks Minister Waa Juwara
A
Presidency statement on Monday confirmed President Yahya Jammeh’s sacking of
Mr. Lamin Waa Juwara, Minister of Regional Administration, Lands and
Traditional Rulers.
The
October 22 statement said the removal of Mr. Juwara takes immediate effect.
Juwara,
a long time opposition strong-man and one time fierce critic of the Gambian
leader, joined the APRC led government in 2009 as a governor, while heading
NDAM, the National Democratic Action Movement.
He
was appointed Minister in February 2012.
“The
general public is hereby informed that His Excellency The President of the
Republic of The Gambia Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A J J Jammeh, acting
under the provisions of Section 71 (4) (b) of the Constitution of the Republic
of The Gambia, has decided to relieve Mr Lamin Waa Juwara of his appointment as
Minister of Regional Administration, Lands and Traditional Rulers with
immediate effect,” the president’s office announced on Monday.
SOURCE: THE VOICE
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