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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Momodou |
Posted - 14 Dec 2018 : 12:16:28
Gambians protest against D1.128B Supplementary Bill
The Point: Friday, December 14, 2018
http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/gambians-protest-against-d1128b-supplementary-bill
Gambians, mainly young people on Thursday morning staged a protest at the National Assembly in Banjul against the D1,128, 337, 519.77 Supplementary Bill, describing it as unconstitutional.
The minister of Finance and Economic Affairs tabled the bill as legislators sparred over it at the legislative chamber.
Personnel of the Police Intervention Unit (PIU) personnel were deployed at the gate of the National Assembly in order to stop the protesters entering. The protestors were with their placards inscribed: ‘# Reject the Bill, # Stand with the People, #No to Partisan Politics in the National Assembly.
Omar Saibou Camara of #Occupy NAM said one thing that: “we need to clarify in the country is that coming to call for protest does not mean violence.” “Our purpose of coming is for us to be heard. However, anytime citizens gather, it could be described as demonstration and protest. We are here to listen to the parliamentarians and the decision they are going to take on the bill that’s against the will and aspiration of Gambians.”
“We are not armed but we have our placard to remind our parliamentarians that we are watching and we want them to reject in totality the Supplementary Bill because it is unacceptable, it’s not normal and its unconstitutional.”
Habb Sanyang, a senior police officer who was on the ground said they could not allow them in the National Assembly. “We cannot allow all of you at the National Assembly. You can select few of you to go in and listen then come back and report to others,” he told protesters.
Meanwhile the NAM for Jimara, Alhagie H. Sowe expressed doubt over the bill after the government had spent its entire allocated budget. “We represent the Gambian people and I think my fellow NAMs will reject this so-called Supplementary Bill.”
Author: Momodou Jawo
Related Topic: 2019 Budget = Budget of Shame
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| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Momodou |
Posted - 21 Dec 2018 : 15:44:44
The supplementary appropriation approved by lawmakers on Friday night amounts to D557, 458, 585.00
The National Assembly members have approved over half a billion dalasi supplementary appropriation brought to the lawmaking body by finance minister Mamburay Njie on Friday night.
HELLO MR PRESIDENT...
December 21, 2018
The Night Bill...
It has been widely reported that last night, the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Mr Mambury Njie managed to convince the Speaker of the National Assembly to convene and sneakily pass a Supplementary Appropriation Bill earlier squashed by the House.
It is said that the vote was a tie, broken only by the vote of the 'Nominated Speaker'. The reports say that sixteen NAMs voted for and sixteen against. There were some who abstained and others were absent. To me, this is the beginning of the end of good governance in the country.
Mr President, I have already made my position on that Bill clear; I am totally against it. Thus, this piece is not about the bill being good or bad, it is to remind you of the thousands of Gambians who cannot find good healthcare in their country. It is to remind you that sometimes, even for the treatment of ordinary diseases, Gambians have to go to Senegal or elsewhere.
This is to remind you that our education system - the only hope of pulling ourselves out of poverty and want - is in shambles. Thousands of Gambians complete schooling without having a skill or the expertise and knowhow to survive in this jungle of a world.
It is to remind you that thousands of civil servants can't afford housing. They are tenants who give away half - sometimes more than half - of their salaries to landlords or landladies and continue to struggle to put food on their tables.
It is to remind you that thousands of farmers have no hope of their groundnuts being bought promptly. This is the only source of income they have and thus, if their crops are not bought promptly, then they may starve.
This is to remind you that our youth are desperate and they are dying in the high seas just to reach the shores of Europe to improve their lives. They have no opportunities here and that is why they are going away at the risk of their lives.
Mr President, this is to remind you that the Anti-Ctime Unit of the Gambia Police Force is regularly arresting teenage Gambians for theft and petty crime. This, as I said in a writeup last week, is not a disease but a symptom.
Arresting these young boys and imprisoning them is not a cure; it is just window dressing. We need to look deeper and solve the main problem rather than the symptoms.
This is to remind you that corruption is rife. Millions of dalasis of taxpayers money do not go to the intended destination. There is need for proper, thorough and prompt reform to avert a catastrophe. We need to do better. We owe it to the future of our nation.
Now, with all this, you can decide whether or not what your Minister and Speaker did is in the interest of the nation.
Have a Good Day Mr President...
By Tha Scribbler Bah
A Concerned Citizen.hop
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| Momodou |
Posted - 14 Dec 2018 : 12:34:27
The Meaning of the National Assembly Rejection of the Supplementary Bill
By Madi Jobarteh
The Constitution allows the Government to seek more money from the Parliament if the budget provided for that year cannot meet expenses simply because of the emergence of unforeseen or urgent needs. In other words, if, during the course of the year the Government decides to create a new institution, or the country faces a disaster or some other emergency for which there was no budget, or the approved budget was not sufficient to cater for the new situation, the Constitution allows for Government to go to the National Assembly to ask for more money. This is what is called a supplementary appropriation bill as mentioned in Section 153 of the Constitution.
But the Constitution did not just allow this for free. No. Rather the Constitution said before a supplementary appropriation bill is to be created and approved there must first be a Contingencies Fund (Section 154) which has to be established through an Act of the National Assembly. The purpose of the Contingencies Fund is to allow the President, i.e. the government to spend from it when unforeseen or urgent need arises. It is when that Contingencies Fund runs out that a supplementary appropriation bill could be created. Hence you cannot talk about a supplementary appropriation bill without first having a Contingencies Fund which must have first exhausted to warrant a supplementary appropriation bill.
But until today there has been an Act of the National Assembly to create a Contingencies Fund since this Constitution came into force in 1997. This means all of the supplementary appropriation bills under the former APRC Regime which were approved were in fact unconstitutional.
Therefore, today’s decision by the National Assembly to reject Barrow’s attempt to disregard the Constitution as Yaya Jammeh used to do was significant in that it protected and upheld the rule of law. By upholding the rule of law, it means the National Assembly has performed one of the foremost functions of the parliament which is oversight, i.e. to check the Executive to ensure that they do not abuse power and plunder public resources.
The decision by the National Assembly is also significant in that it has proven that the much-needed system change that citizens yearn for is not yet in place. This is precisely because Barrow continues to appoint, bring back and retain former Yaya Jammeh enablers who are used to such abuse of power and disregard of the rule of law.
This National Assembly must therefore by highly commended for their principled stand against such abuse and disregard of the rule of law. They have indeed indicated that they are only guided by their conscience and the national interest as required of them in dealing with issues in the National Assembly as set out in Section 112(b) of the Constitution.
The National Assembly must still go further to address this clear abuse of the Constitution by the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs. The Minister knows very well the constitutional procedures laid down for the management of public finance. Yet the Minister decided to blatantly disregard the Constitution just to access public funds for wilful use. This is gross misconduct that the National Assembly must not let go.
Therefore, the National Assembly must invoke Section 75 by passing a motion of censure against the Minster for his removal by the President. The decision of the Minister to submit a supplementary appropriation bill when he knows that there is no Contingencies Fund in place, yet he wanted to circumvent this fundamental provision is a blatant abuse of power and the rule of law. Therefore Section 75 provides that if a Minister or the Vice President engages in such misconduct or violates any provision of the Constitution, the National Assembly could pass a motion of censure for his or her removal.
I therefore wish to call on the members of the National Assembly to further discipline the Minster hence all public servants by passing a motion of censure against the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs.
Furthermore, the National Assembly must subject the 2018 budget and all Government expenditures to investigation to determine exactly whether the Barrow Government did not spend any money for which they never got parliamentary authorization. It is not enough for the Minster to tell NAMs that the Government has not engaged in any unauthorised spending. It is for the National Assembly itself to scrutinise Government expenditures to ensure that there were no unbudgeted and unauthorised spending.
We can recall in September when the Minister of Finance went to the National Assembly to report on the state of Government Expenditure. He said in the first quarter, i.e. from January to April 2018 the Government spent D4,025,605,229. This was when he also told NAMs that over 200 million dalasi was spent on travels and soon after imposed a travel ban except for travels to statutory meetings. But since that report we never saw the Government present any more reports to the National Assembly for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters. Why?
No to Financial Mismanagement and Indiscipline. No to Abuse of Power. No to Impunity.
For the Gambia Our Homeland.
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| Momodou |
Posted - 14 Dec 2018 : 12:20:09
Lawmakers reject 2018 Supplementary Bill
The Point: Friday, December 14, 2018
http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/lawmakers-reject-2018-supplementary-bill
Lawmakers on Thursday rejected the Supplementary Bill on the total revenue and grants for the estimates of revenues, recurrent and development expenditures for the Fiscal year 2018 at the National Assembly.
Tabled by the minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Mamburry Njie, legislators sparred and ended up rejecting the bill on the grounds that it should have been part of the initial total expenditures.
Hon. Halifa Sallah, member for Serrekunda Central said; “essentially, we must understand the spirit of this National Assembly, the functions of the arms of the state have been clearly defined.”
“We have effective checks and balances to ensure that they work harmoniously together towards our common goals.”
“So when we work here, we are not enlightening anything but speaking our consent and national interest,” he said, adding that many people are carrying many functions including the civil servants and they do things that are against their will. “But that is their function and that’s why our standing orders are very clear.”
Hon. Sallah made it clear that if there was any supplementary estimates appropriate bill, it should have been brought before them before any expenditure.
Hon. Majanko Samusa, a nominated member said: “This is why we said change, so anything that we should do, should be in the right way,” he said.
“I will thank the experts for the good job they have been doing in this document.
Author: Njie Baldeh |
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