By: Kebba AF Touray
Mamburay Njie, the Gambia’s Finance Minister, has said that vaccinating the populace remains a critical foundation in the country’s recovery agenda.
Minister Njie said this while presiding over the signing ceremony of the Development Objective Grant Agreement between the governments of The Gambia and the United States of America.
He said the agreement is significant as it will, at the macro level, directly support the Gambia’s National Development Plan strategic priority of “restoring good governance, respect for human rights, the rule of law, and empowering citizens”.
Specifically, he said it will among others help in strengthening the Gambia’s democratization process, as well as build the institutional and human capacity within government’s branches in The Gambia.
“It will also contribute to the protection and promotion of civic and political rights in The Gambia through an enabled civil society that exercises its civic and political rights in a secured environment,” he said. “The signed agreement will also improve the capabilities of the judicial sector to safeguard and advance the earlier mentioned rights, while capacitating the institutions of governance in delivering public services in a transparent, equitable, efficient and effective manner.”
He acknowledged the milestone successes registered and the series of reforms of the current administration, in response to increasing expectations from the citizenry, aimed at addressing the nation’s governance challenges.
He said these reforms were given prominence and vigor through their central position in their current National Development Plan, where they collectively committed to what he quoted as “deliver good governance and accountability, social cohesion, and national reconciliation and a revitalized and transformed economy for the wellbeing of all Gambians.”
This, he remarked, is indeed quite evident that the overarching objective also informed the transitional justice agenda of government. The good governance journey that The Gambia has embarked upon, he stressed, is one that requires support from all-including from our development partners.
“It is not an exaggeration that we would require the solid partnership of institutions such as the USAID to achieve our objectives,” Minister Njie clarified.
He said that The Gambia is therefore very pleased that they are receiving support from the people and government of the United States of America through this agreement.
“Through this Development Objective Grant Agreement, the two nations have once again reaffirmed the bonds of friendship and cooperation that happily exist between the United States of America and the Republic of The Gambia,” Minister Njie expressed.
Njie stated further that the agreement is also a testimony of their joint commitment and resolve to enhance Democracy, Peace and Stability while collectively delivering development to the people of The Gambia. He conveyed Gambia’s sincere appreciation to President Joseph R. Biden, the Government and People of the United States of America.
“We are very grateful for this laudable intervention at this critical stage of our democratization process and please be assured that we will continue to nurture these engagements,” he said.
While reaffirming their commitment to the smooth implementation of this agreement, he reassured that his ministry will give all the support necessary for the successful implementation of this agreement.
Minister Njie also called on all relevant institutions and sectors in The Gambia to support this endeavor while seeking their collaboration for the attainment of the objectives of this agreement.
“As The Gambia embarks on the building forward of better pathway in this COVID-19 era and as we plan to commence recovery from the pandemic, vaccinating our populace remains a critical foundation in the recovery agenda,” he said.
