By: Kebba AF Touray
The Gambia’s former Justice Minister, Abubacarr Tambadou has on Monday 29th June 2020, told lawmakers that the Gambia has changed and will only change for the better from now on.
Erstwhile Justice Minister said this on Monday 29th June 2020, while addressing the Assembly as he prepares to leave for his new assigment at the UN.
The Gambia’s former Justice Minister, Abubacarr Tambadou, said “parting is not easy and I have some memorable encounters with almost all of you. It has not been easy at times, some have actually recently threatened to conduct citizen arrest on me”.
He added: “But that is the joy of democracy. It is the joy each and every one of us here in this assembly fought for many years. Many of you devoted your lives to fighting this course”.
He added: “A day like today I would like to single out the Honorable Member for Serrekunda (Halifa Sallah), for his devotion to fighting this freedom for many years. I recall when I was a student of St. Augustine’s High School, we used to be excited with socialist Marxists ideas and we would invite him to come and give talks during our symposium”.
He added “He would not remember that, but I would as a student and I used to be inspired by him. It has been three and half short and long years, it has been difficult sometimes, but I wish to remind the Honorable members here that our country is at a cross road”.
He described the legislators as patriotic men and women of the country, who represent the country on whose behalf the lawmakers make decisions, but clarified to them that the responsibility to traverse from the shaky water to more stable and institutionalized democracy, rests on the citizenry.
This he said, cannot be done in the absence of peace and stability, adding that it is what the country is endowed with as the country’s national treasure that the country must always preserve.
He thanked the legislators for their engagements, criticisms, complements and openness and added that from now, the lawmakers are central in ensuring that there is transparent, open and accountable, government and to check the excesses of power to make sure that the country will no longer go back to a dictatorship.
He said: “The Gambia has changed. It will only change for the better from now on. See the executive as your partners in development and engage constructively. Of course sometimes, our decisions will be swayed by our partisan political interest, but what makes us true democrats, is the ability to identify a national crisis and come together and put aside our political differences”.
He said it is going to be difficult and democracy is chaos, but it behooves the citizenry to ensure they bequeath to future generations the Gambia people inherited before 22nd July 1994.
