By Kebba AF Touray
The Gender Minister, Fatou Kinteh, has told Members of the National Assembly that there are ongoing efforts to address the issue of child beggars in Gambian streets. Ms. Kinteh said this on Wednesday 9th July 2025, while responding to a question to put to her by the National Assembly Member for Foni Bondali, Hon. Dembo Sanneh.
In his question, Hon. Sanneh asked the Minister to inform the Assembly of the Ministry’s plans to abolish the prevalent situation of child begging in Gambian streets especially in Jarra Soma, Farafenni and Hamdalai.
Minister Kinteh said the issue of child beggars on the streets is a major concern for the Ministry.
“They should not be in the streets begging. As per those mention in the question, this is a concern to us and we have engaged UNICEF so that we can conduct an assessment of all the “Majalis and Daras” around those areas, and we have gone far with this,” she said, adding that they will visit the Majalis and Daras across the country, to see the welfare of children in these places.
“Based on these findings, we will come up with appropriate measures to address the issue of child beggars within Gambian streets,” she said.
In a supplementary question, the Member for Banjul North, Hon. Muhammed L. Bah, asked the Gender Minister to update them on the rationale behind the delay of the external audit exercise by NAO, on the Women Enterprise Fund initiative.
In her response, Gender Minister Kinteh acknowledges the significance of timely and regular audit in promoting transparency and accountability, as well as sound financial management in public entities and funds such as the Women Enterprise Fund.
She highlighted the following factors to which the delay can be attributed to: Pre-Audit Preparation and Documentation,
She explained that during the 30th meeting of the governing board of the fund on 21st December 2023, it was resolved that the external audit exercise by NAO be delayed until all the necessary audit requirements were fulfilled. This decision, she said, was made in light of the understanding that documentation and capacity, needs the inclusion of the recruitment of key personnel to support WEF operations, and said the board targeted March 24th as the timeframe to meet this requirement.
On staffing and manpower constraints, Ms. Kinteh said in the 2025 manpower budget, the Ministry secured approval for the recruitment of three additional staff for WEF, which include two recovery officers and an enterprise development clerk whose role is to support the fund’s operational needs. Before this, the fund was managed by two staff only, Minister Kinteh added.
On the expiry of the term of the board, Ms. Kinteh said the question arose at a time when the time of the Fund’s board expired in January 2024.
In accordance with the WEF Act, the Ministry requested the nomination of relevant stakeholders and theys ubsequently submitted the names to the office of the President for approval. She announced that on 13 June 2025, they received the official approval from the President, and the inauguration for the new board is slated next week. This, she said, will ensure the Ministry to continue with activities, allowing auditors to commence the audit exercise.
“Has this delay had any effect on women beneficiaries?’’the Member for Banjul Central, Hon. Abdoulie Njai, asked the Minister who responded in the negative saying: “Not at all”.
