By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Gambian National Assembly Members (NAMs) have passed a resolution to recover over D142 million of misused funds according to the Covid-19 Audit report published by the National Audit Office (NAO). The resolution was tabled by the Chairperson of Parliament’s Finance and Public Accounts Committee, Hon Alhagie S. Darbo on 14th September 2023. Hon Darbo who is the Minority Leader and member for Brikama North faced questions from the Speaker of the House, Hon Fabakary Tombong Jatta and his colleagues on how the Inspector General of Police (IGP) would report his findings back to Parliament. In reaction…
Author: Yusef Taylor
Yusef Taylor
Yusef Taylor, commonly known as Flex Dan is an editor and practising journalist based in the Gambia with a keen interest in human rights, the economy and good governance among many others. He continues to break news on the economy, human rights violations and is highly engaged in security sector reforms, constitutional reform and the transition of the Gambia from dictatorship to a democracy, the NewGambia. Yusef has been working with Gainako as a media practitioner from 2015 to date. He has a degree in Civil Engineering with 5 years of Design Consultancy experience.
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon Mamadou Tangara faced National Assembly members on Wednesday 6th September 2023 to answer questions relating to his Ministry and policies guiding their operations. One of the questions asked by Hon Alhagie Mbow for Upper Saloum requested for the Foreign Minister to update Parliament “if his Ministry has a Foreign Policy as well as a Foreign Service Regulation that guides them in their work?” In response, Foreign Minister Tangara explained that “the Minister of Foreign Affairs has the overall mandate to implement the Foreign Policy objectives of The Gambia with the…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT On Monday 11th September 2023 the National Assembly member for Central Baddibou, Hon Sulayman Saho raised up a matter of the day focused on repealing the ban on Female Genital Mutilation/ Cutting. According to Hon Saho’s statement, The Gambia’s 1997 Constitution provides for freedom to practice culture and religion. Hon Saho quoted Chapter 17 Subsections 2 and 32 of the 1997 Constitution and called for “dialogue on this matter rather than arresting our mother and sisters to be arraigned before the court”. According to Hon Saho, “this is creating discord among those who practised it as…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The Gambia Parliamentary Newsletter (GPN) has published the ninth edition which focuses on the Draft Constitution. This edition highlights the status quo on the Draft Constitution by giving readers a historical perspective of the proceedings of the 21st and 22nd of September 2020 when the Draft Constitution was rejected as well as the positions of the President and the Minister of Justice on the revival of the Draft Constitution. Download the Draft Constitution Edition in the link. Our reporters have obtained videos of the engagement organised by an international organisation named International IDEA with Political Party…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The former Hon Member for Serrekunda, Hon Halifa Sallah who is the current party leader of the People’s Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) has published a 14-page supplement on Foroyaa Newspaper focused on the Draft Constitution. Published on 29th August 2023 the introduction highlights that “the objective of this publication is to situate the reader on how the constitution building process started and where it stumbled”. With the catchy headline “Dead as a Draft Constitution but Alive as a Working Document,” Hon Sallah gave his perspective on the Constitution building process where he also…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT On Tuesday 5th September 2023, both The Gambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister and the Minister for Defence withdrew their Bills from Parliament cutting the National Assembly’s business shorter than expected. During his motion to withdraw, Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Mamadou Tangara stated “Hon Speaker, I want to inform this August Assembly that my Ministry did not seek for the ratification of The Gambia-Swiss Agreement. The Office of the Clerk requested from my Ministry signed agreements relating to immigration which was shared following which we received an agenda with three items to be ratified including this agreement”. However,…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Five Acts have been passed and assented to in 2023 in addition to the Appropriation Act, of 2023. The Appropriation Act, 2023 should make it six acts in total, however, it’s important to note that it was passed by Parliament on 6th December 2022 and assented to by the President on 22nd December 2022. The Appropriation Act forms part of the Annual Budget and was tabled by the Hon Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Seedy Keita. Out of the five acts passed and assented in 2023, two were tabled by the Hon Attorney General and…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Two Cabinet Ministers have withdrawn two motions from the National Assembly within a period of two days, cutting Parliamentary proceedings short for Tuesday 5th September 2023. The two motions which have been withdrawn are for the ratification of the “Arms Trade Treaty Agreement” (ATT) and the “Agreement between The Gambia Government and the Swiss Federal Council on Cooperation in Migration Matters”. Speaking to Parliamentarians on Monday 4th September 2023, the Hon Minister for Defence Sering Modou Njie, tabled the ATT Agreement for The Gambia “to join the global efforts to control the illegal proliferation of conventional…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The National Assembly member for Banjul North, Hon Momodou Lamin Biram Bah donated D50,000 to nine qualified Nawettan teams from Banjul North and an Under-15 football tournament at the July 22nd Arch (Never Again Arch) on Friday 1st September 2023. Hon Bah who won his first seat as a Parliamentarian in April 2022 said that supporting the youth “is a commitment from myself as a National Assembly member”. The event was graced by the Lord Mayoress of Banjul Rohey Malick Lowe, the Banjul Central Representative, the Banjul Sports Committee President, the Gambia Press Union President, leaders…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT According to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) January to end of June 2023 Expenditure Brief, the country has spent 53% of the 2023 Approved Budget by the end of the first six months. The expenditure brief details government expenditure on all Government Local Funds (GLF) which means it “does not factor [in] any donor-sourced funding including external loans and donor project grants”. In the 2023 Approved Budget, the total GLF approved for Government Expenditure was D22.06 billion while the total of GLF, Loans and Grants came to D38.8 billion. This means all loans…