Tuesday, May 03, 2011
The minority leader of the National Assembly and the parliamentarian for Kiang West constituency Mr Momodou Sanneh said the minister of Finance and Economic Affairs stated in his last budget speech said that parastatals have limitations to contribute to national development due to lack of funds.
Sanneh who was addressing a UDP rally at Tallinding on Saturday said the minister’s statement showed that parastatals in Gambia are on the brink of collapse.
He said the buses of The Gambia Public Transport Corporation (GPTC) have been used by the APRC as political tools until they got spoiled, rendering the country’s only public transport corporation dormant.
“GPTC had facilitated transportation of people and goods across the country. There were school buses at reasonable fares,” Sanneh noted.
Sanneh also criticized the government’s habit of giving press statements to be read by the Secretary General when there is a ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said the worst thing about the statements are that they are diplomatically retrogressive.
The Kiang West parliamentarian said, the 2011 election is another important moment in the country’s political history. He said that it is a constitutional mandate for there to be an election every five years to elect a leader of Gambia.
He said every Gambian who attains the age of 18 and above has the right to acquire a voter card and to vote in any election.
The minority leader said people should come out in numbers to register in preparation of the 2011 elections and to vote.
He said it is necessary to remember that President Jammeh first came to power as usurper of power from a democratically elected government.
He said, Jammeh deceived Gambians that there would be accountability, transparency, and probity which are different from the system in place.
He added that President Jammeh has told the people that he is not interested in politics, but came to correct the ills of the past, which, he said, is contradictory to his ways of governance.
Sanneh urged Gambian people to reflect by closely examining the current system in the country. He said being head of state does not mean that one has to be a ruthless leader.
“Where have you seen on earth, a leader throwing biscuits on his people to scramble like hungry beasts. This is no sign of respect for the dignity of Gambian people,” he said, noting that there are many progressive ways of helping people to uplift their standards of living.
He also said that those who want to make president Jammeh president for life are not thinkers but dreamers who are just trying the impossible.
He said chiefs have been going round the country to campaign for President Jammeh to become king of The Gambia. He said monarchical inclinations have brought down many presidents in other parts of the world.
He said some leaders suffered the uprising of the people they have been oppressing. He said leadership should go with selfless sacrifice.
He rubbished the notion of a governor that opposition cannot bring development for the people. He said the money meant for the development of the country is from the pockets of the taxpayers and not from the pocket of any leader. He added that development is not a partisan issue.
Sanneh said the right time to wise up as a people is now, because people are increasingly getting into abject poverty and many businesses are collapsing.
“Farmers are suffering due to disproportionate sharing of the national cake. They are not enjoying the fruits of their labour. Let us end the politics of pettiness and bring to power a progressive government by voting in UDP,” he said.
Author: Baboucarr Ceesay
www.dailynews.gm
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤