Fellow Gambians,
As
we celebrate yet another Independence day, we must reflect on the state of our
nation over the past 53 years, and hence the theme of my address focuses on THE ‘NEW GAMBIA’ FOR REFLECTION AND
SOUL-SEARCHING FOR INCLUSIVE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
My fellow Gambians,
Together, we have
ushered the New Gambia into a world of hope
- while we shall jealously guard to preserve the freedom and dignity of our
people. We should continue to nurture
the spirit of unity to build the New Gambia that we want and deserve. Peace is priceless, that is why my government
will tirelessly work towards safeguarding this peace to be able to set our
development agenda on the right path.
We can only
continue to enjoy a peaceful atmosphere if we embrace our diversity, and as
citizens selflessly contribute to making The Gambia the best it can
be. We will always have our differences but we must
learn to respect those differences.
There is no one correct perspective but let us remember that despite our
political, ethnic, economic, gender difference, we have one thing in common –we
have one Gambia and we are all Gambians.
We can only impact
positive change in our institutions and society if we realise that the ultimate
responsibility to bring effective systems in place lies with all of us, state
and non-state actors. We all have specific responsibilities that we cannot
neglect.
In this regard we
must take responsibilities bestowed on us and be accountable to the citizens.
No matter what position you hold in my government, or profession you practice, or be you
an opinion shaper, or a politician, we are in it
together for the success of this country.
We have won the war
against dictatorship, which is the easy part, maintaining the peace for our
democracy to thrive will be our utmost challenge. This will require patience, tolerance, and even mistakes will be made but we will correct them as we work
towards perfecting the New Gambia. In
this journey we are not alone, the world has opened its arms and shows us a lot
of goodwill in this experiment of democracy, and we must make good use of this opportunity. The Gambia has been re-admitted to the
Commonwealth of Nations because of our strife to promote democracy, respect for
human rights and the rule of law.
My fellow Gambians,
In shaping the New
Gambia, my government has begun the task of steadily reforming the government
machinery. The reforms will put in place
the instruments for best practices we formulate in governance through the policies and practices in the execution of our
duties. This will also include cultural and attitudinal change in the timely
execution and delivery of our work. In
this regard my administration will focus not only on service delivery but also on
the quality of work expected of public servants.
Under
my administration, every artificial barrier that will prevent the application
of creativity, innovation and service delivery system will be completely
removed.
It
is one year into my administration, and yet we have remove one of the major
huddles – Management by Fear – by creating an enabling environment that
encourages critical thinking, collaboration, positive engagement, guided by a
clear vision in our quest to build the New Gambia. This vision is captured in
our National Development Plan 2018-2021.
This plan is our
National blueprint that would ensure the New Gambia is put on a firm footing to deliver good
governance and accountability, social cohesion and national reconciliation and
above all to revitalise and transform the economy for the wellbeing of all
Gambians.
My
priorities which are in line with the NDP is to fix the energy problem, improve
health and agricultural sub-sectors, youth empowerment, and education and
tourism.
To
this end, the office of the President and Ministry of finance will work in
tandem to ensure that a robust monitoring and delivery system is put in place
so that I will be personally briefed on a quarterly basis on the status of
implementation of the NDP.
Fellow Gambians,
2017 was a challenging period in starting the transformation process because we
inherited a structure and a system that was dysfunctional, with coordinated policies, and in some instances
no records for my government to immediately continue governance. We have also recognized the impatience from fellow Gambians and in some cases
frustrations in the speed with which they want to see things happen.
In spite of all
these challenges, my government has registered modest but profound improvements
in tax reforms which has significantly benefited companies and individuals,
improved macroeconomic performance by improving our import cover from one month
to four months, improved fiscal discipline by cutting on our expenses and
reduced borrowing. We will also implement the vehicle policy that will reduce the overall government
spending
in maintenance and fuel cost.
Similarly we have
improved the power supply across the nation, where in some places fellow
citizens are enjoying 20-24 hours of steady supply.
Fellow Gambians,
On Justice and
Judicial reforms, a Constitutional Review Commission, Truth, Reconciliation and
Reparation Commission and the Human Rights Commission have been enacted. The Executive Secretary of the TRRC has also
been appointment. At this
junction, I will use this opportunity to declare a moratorium on
the use of the death penalty in The Gambia, as a first step towards abolition.
Similarly the Security Sector Reform assessment has been completed and it will
guide the programme design and implementation.
On Works and
Infrastructure, we have secured
$75Million grant from the Chinese to construct roads and bridges in the Upper
River Region.
Fellow Gambians,
The Gambia is open
for business and we have taken steps to facilitate trade and provide incentives
for investment in the country. We now
have a country that will benefit from greater openness through international
trade. Many investors are exploring the
Gambian market and opportunities.
We have formulated
several policies to enhance our trade relations and to better integrate The
Gambia in to the multilateral trading system.
The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) has been ratified. The Gambia was successfully reinstated into
the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which provides duty free market
access to the United States.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports is partnering
with Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and
Employment
on the EU funded Youth Empowerment Project working closely with the
International Organisation for Migration.
Fellow
Gambians
The price of
groundnut at the seccos has increased from D16,850 last year to D18,800 per ton this year. Also, the
Islamic Development Bank provided my government with $25million to support farmers with groundnut seeds and fertilizers. The
Agriculture and Natural Resources policy 2017-2026 has been reviewed to boost
and add value to agriculture.
The Ministry of
Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters and the Ministry of
Justice reviewed the fisheries regulations 2008 to make it more relevant to our
current realities.
My government has
signed an agreement with the FTI tour operators to boost the tourism industry
and build the capacity of young people in the sector, all aimed at making
tourism an all year round activity.
Fellow
Gambians,
My government has
put in place the right policies and programmes to protect our environment and
combat the effects of climate change and has benefitted from $20.5million from the ECO system based adaptation climate change project
to restore and build The Gambia natural resource base.
To improve health
delivery, we have obtained mobility for Village Health Workers and Community
Health Nurses across the country.
Fellow
Gambians,
In one year, MRC
Holland Foundation has supported the construction of 477 new classrooms
in 50 schools, renovation of 318 classrooms, 520 toilets and 28 staff quarters
built, 28 schools and staff quarters solarised and 29 boreholes dug in 29
schools.
The curriculum
review process is ongoing and with support from the
World Bank and the Global Partnership for Education, we are building on
existing programmes to enhance access to quality basic education, including early
childhood education.
To enhance
capacity in the education sector, 75 Teachers in various disciplines are
undergoing their graduate studies at the University of The Gambia.
To further
strengthen the freedom of the media, my government is preparing an Information
Bill and a committee on Media Law Reform has been set up to review the existing
media laws to support the drafting of a Media Law that is in line with the
developments in media and communication technologies.
The first Private
television station has been licensed and all the radio stations
that have been illegally shut down have been
re-opened.
In one year, I
held three bi-annual press conferences with both local and international
press all aimed at informing the Gambian and development partners on the state
of affairs of the nation. We will continue to pursue our communication strategies.
Fellow Gambians,
May I now turn my
attention to the students. We have begun a journey that
will usher in democratic change and this comes with respect for human rights
and the rule of law. However, it
equally calls for responsible citizenship, and to this end, I
want to
encourage you to be steadfast in your education and learning
to become future teachers, nurses, engineers, technicians, doctors, journalists,
politicians and business people to name a few on whose
shoulders the New Gambia will be carried into the future. We need these professions to
thrive as a modern nation that is successful.
Success can
only be built through hardwork; there is no short cut to success. Those countries that have advanced placed country
before self, show respect for rule of law and have positive attitude towards
nation building.
Therefore, I am
calling on both parents and teachers to redouble their efforts to instill discipline, hardwork, truthfulness,
self-reliance and love for nation before self. It is such values that can make The Gambia
great again.
I cannot conclude my statement without thanking our partners who stood
by us when it was difficult and continue to stand by us as we strive to realise
our national development plan. Each one of them took strategic decision to
support us because of our common belief in nurturing democracy, rule of law,
freedom and equality of all citizens.
On that note I thank you for your kind attention and
wish you a happy celebration.
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