The
president of the Republic has
donated D0.5M to Cabinet as a
kick-start for the
establishment of a Credit
Union for ministers, at a
presentation ceremony on
Monday at the Cabinet Room in
State House.
Presenting a
Trust Bank Savings Account
book to Aja Dr Isatou
Njie-Saidy, the vice president
and minister of Women’s
Affairs, His Excellency Sheikh
Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya
Jammeh advised the ministers
to make the mostof the
initiative, saying it is a
fulfillment of a pledge he
made a few days ago.
“It is inline
with my pledge to make sure
that the Cabinet also has a
credit union just like any
other institution, I hereby
present to the Cabinet through
you, the [vice president],
this Savings Account book with
a sum of five hundred thousand
dalasi to kick-start operating
a Cabinet Credit Union,” he
told them. He also
urged the ministers to work with
the vice president and put up a
mechanismof contributing monthly
to the union’s account.
President Jammeh
added: “The idea of a credit
union is a wonderful one;
however for any credit union
to survive, when you borrow,
you must carry forward and
pay. If you borrow without
paying, the credit union will
be dead. Sometimes in Cabinet,
you have unexpected occurrence
where we need to put funds
together, assist one person or
the other. Because of the lack
of such a fund, sometimes it
is difficult for members to
contribute meaningfully. I
think with this fund, you will
be able to take care of any
eventualities comfortably
without any hardship.”
Membership
The Gambian
leader stressed that
membership of the union is for
all ministers whether they are
in Cabinet or not. He said in
the event that a minister is
no more in cabinet and owes
the union, his or her money
will be deducted from what
he/she contributed and the
balance will be given back to
him/her.
He added: “We are
not taking anybody’s money. It
is a credit union, if you
leave whatever is not used,
your balance will be given
back to you and still you can
be a member of the union
because once a member you are
always a member, whether you
are out of Cabinet or not
because we are not supposed to
friends when you are here and
enemies when you leave unless
you have other motives. In the
event that you leave, the
choice is yours. If you want,
you take your balance, if you
want, you leave it and
continue being part of it.”
Speaking earlier,
the Attorney General and
Minister for Justice, Lamin
Jobarteh, said they [Cabinet]
are very happy and
appreciative ofthe president’s
gesture. His words:
“You are one unique president
who cares for the welfare of not
only your Cabinet but the entire
populace of The Gambia. We pray
for your long life, success and
we further pray that God help
you in reaching the apex of all
the things that you desire for
the welfare and advancement of
the beautiful Gambia.”
The vice
president and minister of
Women’s Affairs, Aja Dr Isatou
Njie-Saidy, joined other
speakers to thank the Gambian
leader on behalf of the
Cabinet for spearheading the
move. “We are grateful once
again to you for your
continuous generosity. We as a
Cabinet and as a nation are
proud of you for your
benevolence and for caring and
sharing,” she stated.
She assured
President Jammeh that they
would not fail him and he will
see the result from this
particular initiative. “We
promised you that we will
continue to follow your
leadership by example in not
just farming but in other
spheres of development,” VP
Njie-Saidy added.
The minister for
Energy, Teneng-Mba Jaiteh,
also spoke at the ceremony
moderated by Mariama Njie, the
deputy secretary to Cabinet.
