Motion on the proceedings of 11 April National Assembly moved

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By MUHAMMED S. BAH

Law Makers on Thursday, 13 April, 2017 moved a motion with amendments on the record of votes and proceedings of the National Assembly sitting of 11 April, 2017.

This is the first sitting of the Assembly since National Assembly members were sworn in on the 11 April, 2017 and the next sitting of the National Assembly is scheduled for 19 April, 2017.

The motion was moved by Hon. Samba Jallow, Minority Leader and member for Naimina Dankunku, and seconded by Hon. Alhagie S. Darboe, member for Brikama South.

During the deliberations, NAMS pointed out a lot of typos and grammatical errors on the said document including name spelling which was noted by the office of the clerk and expected to be amended.

Hon. Halifa Sallah, Member for Serrekunda, drew the attention of the National Assembly to points that he raised during the sitting of 11 April 2017 which were not captured by the record of proceedings. He pointed out that he did raise the issue of publication in the Gambia Gazette of the proclamation of the president on the inaugural session, which he said, should have been captured in the records. He also said that he also raised the issue of the procedure adopted for the selection of a minority leader, which he said was also not captured.

Ousman Sillah, the National Assembly member for Banjul North, in his intervention said the records should also reflect the position of the member for Serrekunda, Halifa Sallah, regarding the need to move a motion on the approach to be adopted in the selection of a minority leader. Mr Sillah said since there is a lacuna in the Standing Orders regarding the procedure to adopt if such a situation of a tie arises, it is necessary for this motion to be made which would from henceforth form part of the procedure or Standing Order. He said this should be noted.

Hon. Ndey Yassin Secka, Nominated Member also raised the importance of NAMs having the documents prior to the sittings so that they scrutinize them before attending sessions. This she said will make it easier for them during sessions.

She also suggested that the office of the clerk should consider sending relevant documents on their emails.

Other NAMs raised concerns on sending government documents through emails, which they said might face a risk of being handled by some other parties. This according to them might undermine the confidentiality of the documents.

However, suggestions were made, that the government through the Ministry of Information should consider creating emails for Nams through a protective server where relevant documents could be shared.

Hon. Muhammed Ndow, NAM for Banjul Central, also raised a concern for the National Assembly to consider making the visually impaired nominated member have access to relevant documents for her own understanding.