By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT
The member for Banjul North, Hon Momodou Lamin Biram Bah donated 10 umbrellas to women petty traders outside the New Parliament Building yesterday 26th April 2023 to launch his ‘Umbrella Initiative’.
Hon Bah explained that “we call it the Umbrella initiative to empower the youth and women of Banjul North. Very soon we’re coming up with other initiatives connected to this because we’re not only providing them with umbrellas but we will provide them with cash to buy materials to sell and make more profit”.
The New Parliament Building is located in Banjul North which makes Hon Bah the Representative responsible for that constituency and to address the concerns of electorates in that area.
Highlighting the reason for starting the Umbrella Initiative, Hon Bah notes that after his team assessed “the situation here we understand that they don’t have [good] umbrellas so that is why we’ve started with this”.
Speaking on the source of funds for the umbrellas, Hon Bah revealed that “all the money that I am using in this initiative is money that I’ve been paid for to deliver my parliamentary work”.
Our reporter quizzed the Hon member to clarify further, to which the Banjul North representative noted that “it’s my own salary am using to support the women and the youth of my constituency. I will open up to other people who want to be part of this initiative”.
Explaining how he intends to expand the Umbrella Initiative Hon Bah says he “will also visit some very important people to gather support for this initiative. This is because the women are the most vulnerable and I believe that empowering them should start from me”.
Asked how much has been spent on the 10 umbrellas and Hon Bah revealed that each umbrella cost D1,000 making it a total of D10,000 spent for the 10 umbrellas.
“This is my constituency and I don’t regret it. I feel happy when I see my women being empowered. I will encourage each and everyone who believes that they can help the women to come forward to make this initiative a reality. We believe in turning dreams into reality. These are women who wake up very early going to the streets to make ends meet to support their families. We are compelled to support them to achieve even more” said the Banjul North Parliamentarian.
