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| Momodou |
Posted - 16 Mar 2018 : 10:31:36
House Speaker Denton Versus Halifa Sallah
By Sana Sarr
Fatu Network: March 16, 2018
http://fatunetwork.net/house-speaker-denton-versus-halifa-sallah/
It has been reported that on Thursday, March 15, 2018, a heated exchange took place between National Assembly Member from Serekunda, Halifa Sallah, and the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mariam Jack Denton. According to reports, Finance Minister, Amadou Sanneh, brought a framework agreement asking parliament to approve a loan deal between the government of The Gambia and China. Reports have it that Mr. Sallah demanded to see the full details of the loan before they can vote on it rather than rely only on the framework. Finance Minister proceeded to argue on the urgency and importance of the loan but Mr. Sallah was refused to budge. A vote ensued and members voted 18:12 in favor of waiting to see the full details of the loan. Somehow, in the proceeding discussions, things escalated and the speaker, Mariam Jack Denton, got involved and ended up ordering security to remove Sallah from the parliament.
The Worry
My first worry is the dictatorial tendencies exhibited by the speaker of the house. This is the house of parliament, a platform for representatives to resolve the most important and controversial national matters THROUGH DIALOGUE! The fact that the speaker could not keep control of the verbal confrontations is bad, but it is astounding that she quickly flew on a power trip to ask security to remove an elected representative of the people! WHAT? Where does the speaker think she is, a 2015 Jammeh-led dictatorship? I hope Speaker Denton is reminded that she was NOMINATED by politicians whereas the members of parliament were ELECTED by the Gambian taxpayers. Her job is to maintain decorum and facilitate dialogue. She’s supposed to be the adult in the room, not be one of the children throwing a tantrum. I hope the speaker remembers to leave the partisanship and ego trips are for the members.
In December 2017, there were reports that Speaker Denton barred journalists from livecasting proceedings at the National Assembly. The National Assembly is the people’s parliament and citizens have a right to see how their representatives are doing the job they were sent to do. Any form of restriction by the speaker is a violation of the people’s rights to information and I see no justifiable reason for the speaker to be engaged in such.
With almost every passing day, Gambians see more signs that makes one question just how different this new administration is to the one we got rid of. It’s far from encouraging to see that Finance Minister, Amadou Sanneh, had the audacity to bring a framework agreement and expect the National Assembly to sign off on it without reading the full details of a loan agreement. I am glad the parliament had Mr. Sallah to point it out, and 17 other MPs who refused to just rubber stamp another item on the Executive’s wishlist. Members of parliament are sent there to represent the general population and provide oversight on everything the executive does. The fact that the finance Minister representing the president even expected the National Assembly to sign off on the document without requesting to see the full details of the agreement suggests that they have no regard for the members. It is also a worrisome sign that they may not have hated how Jammeh did things, they just envied him.
The Lessons
I hope the National Assembly members, through this incident, realize how vulnerable they all can be in relation to the executive. Today it is Halifa Sallah getting kicked out, tomorrow it could be any of them. While the members are elected directly by the voters, the speaker is nominated by the President. This means that they owe their loyalty to the president at whose will they serve. Therefore, a speaker can simply shut down, or kick out, any member of parliament that they feel, or are instructed, is not serving the best interest of the president or his friends. This undermines the whole system of checks and balances and members would be wise to begin working on getting rid of it! This whole idea of nominated members is archaic and needs to be revisited.
I pray that our National Assembly members are also reminded of their responsibility and their powers. Members are not there to rubber stamp everything the executive tables. Their loyalties should remain with the ordinary citizens who voted for them and they need to always act in the best interest of the nation. Every proposition from the executive needs to be carefully scrutinized and thoroughly debated before being voted on. No proposition is too urgent for the parliament to pass before doing their due diligence of scrutinizing. Parliament holds power and the President and ministers should have a lot more respect for them, but this will only happen if the members earn that respect by proving that they’re men and women of integrity, not puppets to be pushed around.
I wish to remind the executive and the parliament that Gambian voters are paying close attention and taking notes. Every action will have consequences come election time.
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| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Momodou |
Posted - 16 Mar 2018 : 20:32:10
Heated Exchange between the Speaker and Halifa Sallah
Foroyaa: March 16, 2018
By Awa B. Bah
http://foroyaa.gm/heated-exchange-between-the-speaker-and-halifa-sallah/
A heated exchange between Halifa Sallah, Member for Serrekunda Constituency and Speaker Mariam Jack Denton unfolded at the National Assembly (NA) yesterday in the middle of a sitting.
This came about as a result of the intervention of the Speaker while Mr Sallah had an argument with the Minister of Finance Amadou Sanneh who moved a motion, on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, on a loan agreement between The Gambia and China.
The argument ensued at a time when majority of the deputies rejected the motion tabled by the Minister.
Halifa Sallah said the sum of the money in the Framework agreement should be put in dalasi or dollars because many people cannot conceptualize or know the sum involved. He demanded for the minister to update them on the amount. He said the essence was that The Gambia was simply given a framework to adopt which, according to him, indicates time frame of seven years and the payment within a period of twenty years at two percent interest. The loan on the real agreement, he said, is the problem because Article 5 is saying that China and The Gambia review the utilization of loan at any time on any issue which may arise in the cause of implementation. This, according to Halifa, is referring to a loan when they have not looked at the loan and are still questioning if this could proceed. He said it is like The Gambia is agreeing to something that Gambians do not know. This, he said, is putting the cart before the horse and called for consideration rather than looking for a framework agreement.
The minister took the podium to respond to the points raised by Halifa. Halifa soon rose to make a point of order that the minister’s response was not in line with the issues he raised, but the Speaker intervened saying that the minister should be allowed to land no matter what he is saying. The speaker said that if the answer is not satisfactory he can come back.
Reacting to the rejection of the motion by deputies, the minister said the national assembly is not aware of the consequences of rejecting the Framework agreement between The Gambia and China on the provision of concessional loan by China to The Gambia and what it implies for The Gambia. According to the minister, The Gambia entered into this agreement with China so as to uplift the ITC sector round the whole country to bring the speeds of networks. This, he said, is what all developing countries are doing. According to the minister, the national assembly members who rejected the move do not to see the Gambia’s telecommunication developing and they will answer to their own consequences.
This was the time when Halifa rose and indicated that there should be decorum in any parliament, but that the minister was trying to convince and threaten members for rejecting the loan. At this juncture, the speaker butted in while Halifa was speaking, saying that there was nothing like that mentioned by the minister.
Halifa asked the minister to behave but the minister reverted back to Halifa saying that Halifa should behave well. This was the time the Speaker ordered the sergeant-in-arms to escort Halifa out of the chamber, if not the sitting will not continue. Halifa put it to the speaker that she did not have that power and called for a point of order. Halifa could be heard telling the speaker “You better behave we are respecting you in anything and that you should respect yourself.”
Other members could be heard telling the security not to touch Halifa, if not the national assembly will be disorganised and that will be a big shame on the security and that Halifa is not moving an inch. Members demanded from the Speaker to tell them the reason why Halifa should leave the chamber, but the speaker turned deaf ears.
Halifa told her that he has given her tremendous respect as a woman and that she should bear that in mind. He said that it is not in his character to demean anybody, especially a woman, and that he wished to give her the respect that is due to her. He said that he spoke about decorum and that he has finally withdrawn it. The sitting then continued.
The sitting was suspended for an hour as most of them could be seen following Halifa while others went downstairs for dialogue and finally a motion was moved for the sitting to be suspended for the house to be regularized. |
| Momodou |
Posted - 16 Mar 2018 : 12:19:15
Building The New Gambia
By Madi Jobarteh
The Speaker Must Exercise Self Restraint
The altercation between the Speaker of the National Assembly Mariam Denton and the Member for Serre Kunda Halifa Sallah is utterly unfortunate, uncalled for and a direct threat to our democracy for which the Speaker must be held to account. The reports that the unfortunate matter arose out of the discussion on the proposed loan agreement between the Gambia and China raises more questions as to the intentions and the conduct of both the Speaker and the Minister of Finance Amadou Sanneh. From all indications it is clear that Halifa Sallah was merely fulfilling his legal and political obligation as guaranteed by the Constitution as a Member of the National Assembly.
Part III of the Constitution, i.e. from Sections 100 to 102 speaks about the legislative and political powers of the National Assembly which includes scrutinizing the Executive and the bills and motions it brings to the parliament. In fact Subsection 2 of Section 101 states that,
“No Bill, other than a Bill referred to in subsection (5), shall be introduced into the National Assembly unless it is accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out in detail the policy and principles of the Bill, the defects which it is intended to remedy and the necessity for its introduction.”
Furthermore Section 155 speaks about how loans and loan agreements are to be contracted by the Gambia Government. Subsection 4(a) of this provision states that an Act of the National Assembly authorising the raising of a loan shall provide,
“That the terms and conditions of a loan shall be laid before the National Assembly and that the loan agreement shall not come into operation until they have been approved by the National Assembly.”
Hence according to these constitutional provisions, Halifa Sallah had indeed done the right thing to demand the details of this loan agreement brought forward by the Executive. In that case what is expected of the Speaker is to create the enabling environment by allowing members to exhaustively discuss all issues and concerns surrounding the loan before a decision is taken. This would require that the Speaker also ensure that the Minister of Finance provide all the necessary details of the agreement for the appreciation of the members.
It is therefore extremely concerning that the Speaker failed to do that but to seek to prevent a member of the National Assembly to raise the necessary issues, concerns and questions about this agreement. While the Constitution under Section 110 stipulates that a member can be removed from the parliament for contempt of the National Assembly, yet the remarks of Halifa on this loan agreement did not constitute any misconduct or contempt. Hence it is indeed heavy handed for the Speaker to demand the removal of Halifa when he sought to fulfil his constitutional duties on this loan agreement.
It is important that the Speaker is reminded that her role and position in the governance and development of the Gambia is very significant as set out in the Constitution. In multiple provisions of the Constitution the role and position of the Speaker can be identified as a leader, enabler, facilitator, decision maker and guide. For that matter the Speaker should be a person who should exercise the utmost patience and tolerance and to inspire and encourage debate in parliament given that the National Assembly is the foundation of our democracy.
We must also bear in mind that a loan is not a matter that must be rushed and imposed on the country. This is because the loans we contract today are going to be paid by citizens of today and tomorrow and those yet unborn. Hence any loan that goes to the parliament must be subjected the most severe scrutiny and debate. The Speaker must therefore serve as a facilitator and not an obstruction to that debate.
We must also remind the Speaker that she is the third in command in the leadership of the Gambia. In Sections 64 and 65, the Constitution states that it is the Speaker, in the absence of the Vice President who should assume the position of the president when the president is temporarily incapacitated mentally or physically, or when the position of president is vacant due to death, resignation or impeachment in which case the Speaker will serve the rest of that tenure.
Given the above, it means the Speaker must therefore exercise the highest levels of leadership which includes demonstrating an attitude that exhibits dignity, tolerance, esteem, wisdom, maturity and conciliation. In that case, the Speaker must be a person who is not expected to lose her cool or become temperamental especially inside the National Assembly. No amount of provocation or misconduct by any member should warrant her to respond in like manner. As the representative of the people, the Speaker must at all times reflect the dignity of the Gambian Nation.
Having said that, it is also necessary to remind the Speaker that after all she is not an elected Member of the National Assembly such that even if she is the Speaker, she must be mindful in expelling an elected member out of the house. Halifa Sallah is a directly elected representative of the people while Mariam Denton is only a nominated member by the President without the consultation and consent of the people of the Gambia. Hence the Speaker must therefore exercise humility to realize that, even if the Standing Orders of the National Assembly gives her power to remove members for misconduct or contempt, yet elected members are the true representatives of the people. In this particular case, Halifa Sallah’s words and actions did not, in anyway, constitute misconduct or contempt or obstruction in the National Assembly.
For the Gambia Our Homeland.
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