Alagie Mbye Jeng, a pensioner, has written an open letter to President Adama Barrow and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, demanding the increment of low-earning pensioners’ pay to improve their lives.
Below is the full open letter to the president and the finance ministry.
“I write on behalf of poor pensioners in the Gambia, by calling on His Excellency President Adama Barrow, president of the Republic of the Gambia, and the Ministry of Finance, to increase the payment of poor and low-earning pensioners.
This call comes in the wake of the recently announced 30% pay rise by the Government of the Gambia for civil servants, particularly low-income earners. Pensioners earning as low as D2,000 or less will not benefit from this if they are not included.
Therefore, I write to the government, especially President Adama Barrow and the Ministry of Finance, to include low-earning pensioners in the forthcoming pay rise and increase the payment of low-income earners, particularly pensioners.
For your information, the last increment for pensioners was in 2018, when the Government of the Gambia increased pensioners’ allowances. This I must say was a noble act.
However, the payment was not categorized to target low-earning pensioners’ payments, because it was across the board.
Therefore, that increment benefited only those pensioners receiving between D7,000 and D10,000 per month, who now receive between D14,000 to D20,000. That increment had less impact on pensioners receiving D600, D70,0 or D1,000 because they now receive D2,000 or less.
If the hundred percent pay increment in 2018 was categorized to target low-earning pensioners, it could have made a difference.
As I write this letter, low-earning pensioners continue struggling to feed their families. Their payments cannot even afford to buy them a bag of rice (50kg) much more to cater for other necessities of their families and other matters.
The government should know that we are suffering and we are tired. We cannot afford three meals per day, and when we are lucky to have breakfast or lunch, we will not have dinner. This is our condition. We are finding it difficult to feed our families let alone ourselves. We are facing a really difficult moment amidst the present economic hardship of the country.
On this note and on behalf of all the pensioners, I call on the government of the Gambia headed by President Adama Barrow, to review the earnings of lower-income earners like we the pensioners by increasing our income from D2,000 to a minimum of D4,000, so that we can at least buy a bag of rice. This will go a long way in helping us provide food for our families.
On this note, therefore, I urge the government to include low-income earning pensioners in the 2024 budget.
I am hopeful that the government will hear our plight and come to the aid of poor pensioners with urgency, as immediately as possible.”
