The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank told a gathering on the engagement of Gambians in the Diaspora that their remittances alone amount to over forty billion dalasi for the year 2022. This is not an ordinary sum of money. It is more than the annual budget of The Gambia.
It is amazing that people living in the Diaspora are deprived of the franchise. Maximum effort must be made to transform the Diaspora into a region whose residents would have constituencies and voting rights in order to participate in decision making in the country. All laws that obstruct their participation as candidates should be expunged from our law books. It is now time to take concreted action so that all Gambians irrespective of where they may can participate in national life, especially in the decision making process.
