THE PDOIS 2015 CONGRESS RESOLUTIONS

The PDOIS Congress meeting in Bansang, CRR, from 22^nd May to the 25^th May 2015, under a climate of unbounded hospitality and serenity; Alerted and driven into action  by a deep sense of concern for the skyrocketing  deficit in liberty and prosperity in the country  and an acknowledgement of a  growing  sense of despair  among  the vast majority of Gambian people, And inspired  and motivated by  an unquenchable and insatiable desire and commitment to ensure that all live in liberty, dignity and prosperity, resolves as follows:

1. ON THE OWNERSHIP OF POWER BY THE PEOPLE

That The Gambia is a Sovereign Republic and her ownership by her people will not become complete and genuine democracy instituted, unless  the sovereignty deposited in the people is fully realised by them and fully  relied on to elect representatives  who will be duty bound to serve their collective interest without fear or favour, affection or ill will. In this regard, all PDOIS members undertake to redouble our commitment to work without hesitation or break to ensure that all Gambians are conscious of their sovereign rights to determine who is to manage the affairs of the country and how, as well as, to consider their right to vote as the invincible and inalienable   instrument that each possesses as a sovereign and equal voice and power to determine the free, prosperous and dignified  destiny of the sovereign people of the Gambia.

2. ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT

That  access to clean drinking water, health facilities, labour saving devices , better roads and  better housing  are grossly inadequate in many villages in the country which  are  without any revenue,or village fund, derived from village earnings  to contribute to  village development; In this regard, PDOIS commits itself to ensuring that every village has a productive base such as farms, gardens, fishing ponds, fishing vessels if they are close to the ocean and other  sources of income such as royalties from mines , boreholes  of public companies, where it can derive  revenue to invest in labour saving devices, clean drinking water, health facilities, better roads and  other social amenities within one year of a PDOIS administration.

3. ON WOMEN’s UPLIFTMENT FROM POVERTY

That women, making up half the population, are mostly engaged in farming, or horticulture, without access to inputs and reliable markets.To address the problem of the vast majority  of women, a Cooperative Bank and Cooperative marketing establishments  will be commissioned to  provide all the inputs  for gardening, aquaculture , animal husbandry, petty business and cottage industries  to enable women to earn income sufficient for improved living and further  purchase farm produce  to promote  value added production through processing to generate employment.

4. ON YOUTH ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

 That the youthfulness of the population of the Gambia with  67 percent falling under the age  of  25, about 47 percent falling between the ages of 13 and 30, and approximately 60 percent being classified as youth in domestic terms, is both a challenge and an asset, depending on the policy that is put  in place to develop the knowledge, skills, democratic and Republican values of the sector  to ensure productive and mature citizenship; That the 411,000 children coming out of our educational  system every 12 years  need to be prepared for further development and  employment; that the government has not put in place any register of persons seeking employment  as dictated by Section 44  of the labour Act and  has not put  any viable  policy in place to satisfactorily address the problem of youth unemployment  in the country. In this regard,  PDOIS will pursue a policy of linking Agricultural production, mainly  based on family farms  and community farms, with processing to ensure that employment  and income generating avenues are created for the youth and thus minimize the perilous adventure to seek greener pastures abroad. Furthermore, PDOIS will pursue a policy constructive rapprochement with foreign governments to ensure transfer of labour, knowledge, skills and technology through mutually beneficial win – win agreements which will facilitate legal settlement of Gambian youths abroad.   5 ON ELECTORAL REFORM That the party is committed to electoral reform so that Gambians abroad shall exercise their right to vote; It stands for  a two term limit of four years per term, the introduction of  paper ballot  to replace marbles, and the promulgation of proportional representation as a constitutional provision  to ensure one third  gender parity in  the composition of ministerial posts or  The Cabinet , The National Assembly and The Councils.

6. ON FOOD SECURITY AND SELF- SUFFICIENCY

That vision 2016 which aims to put an end to the importation of rice in 2016 is based on fiction instead of facts; that in 2014 Gambia imported 140,411 metric tons of rice while domestic production stood at 46,674 metric tons. This puts domestic consumption to be approximately 200,000 metric tons; that if vision 2016 is to be achieved, over 150,000 metric tons of rice would have to be produced in one year; that vision 2016 is therefore wishful thinking and is unachievable; In order to attain food self- sufficiency, PDOIS will establish a cooperative bank and a cooperative marketing institution to support family and community farms to enable them to have  access to  farm inputs such as fertilizer, seeds and farm implements on one hand, and markets and fair price on the other,to ensure food self- sufficiency and community development . The family farms shall be preserved by law and families shall have as much land as they could put into productive use. Land unused by families shall be put into productive use by communities for social benefit. Any investment in land shall be done on a shareholding basis so as to avoid any exclusion of the people from land ownership.  

7. ON EMPOWERMENT OF THOSE LIVING WITH DIASBILITY

That those living with disability are part and parcel of the nation and are equal in sovereignty and must not be treated in a discriminatory manner. They are entitled to civic, political, economic, social, cultural and ecological rights, like other citizens and should not experience any form of exclusion; that those living with disability shall be represented in all the organs of the party, and this objective be included in the terms of reference of any steering committee established to look into the issue of proportional representation in party and national decision making bodies.

8. ON BALANCED AND PROPORTIONATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

That a balanced and proportionate development of the economy will be pursued by aligning sovereign national wealth from public financial institutions with public sector investment and development; private financial institutions  which  trade in foreign currency to the tune of 1.6 million dollars per annum will be twinned with private sector  investment and development, Cooperative banks and other financial institutions  will be linked to  all cooperative ventures in agricultural production, processing and  marketing ; micro credit financial institutions  will take the characteristics of cooperative banks and  be connected  to  informal sector production and marketing activities   . In this regard, we shall encourage the establishment of a  stock exchange to enable Gambian investors at home, as well as those in Diaspora who  are  acknowledged to contribute 1.7 Billion dalasis annually in remittances, to hold shares and cooperate with other shareholders  to develop private sector investment in the country, the sub-region, the continent and beyond.   Public enterprises will be managed to pay dividends which shall be utilized to invest in the foreign bond markets to secure our foreign reserves and ensure a stable balance of payment position in foreign trade.

9. ON THE PDOIS CONSTITUTION

That the letter and spirit of the text of the PDOIS constitution, which has been reviewed, debated and   adopted, is the fundamental instrument that shall from henceforth determine and guide how the affairs of the party is managed in order to increase its efficiency and effectiveness as a fundamental guide for leadership of a free, open and self- reliant nation and a liberated, prosperous and self-determined people.

10. ON THE PDOIS MANIFESTO

That the content of Agenda 2016 concept paper, which has been reviewed, debated and  adopted, be formatted  by the Central Committee and presented  as the Manifesto of the party  for the 2016 to 2018 electoral cycle.

11. ON COMPOSITION OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE

  That the members of the Central Committee elected by the Congress are mandated to liaise with the regional branches to enable them to elect the male and female  regional representatives to  the Central Committee in particular, and  the regional representatives to the other bureaus in general within a period of six months after the Congress, giving priority to the Youth Bureau and the  Bureau on Women and Child Affairs;

12. ON DIASPORA PARTICIPATION AND GENERATIONAL TRANSFER OF LEADERSHIP

That the Central Committee constitutes a steering Committee, with regional and  Diaspora membership, to work out modalities for  the election of the Secretary to the Bureau on International Affairs, and prepare concrete strategies and plans to ensure that a new generation of leadership emerges to fill the  gap in leadership which may emerge as some members of the current leadership  complete their mandate and retire.      13  ENHANCING YOUTH  AND WOMEN PARICIPATION IN PDOIS ACTIVITIES That  the composition of  the Youth Bureau and the Bureau for Women and Child Affaires be expanded to include members from all regions, and steering committees be constituted and given mandate of a six month duration to work out the modalities  of how to build a youth wing and women’s wing of the party to carry out the work of mobilization, sensitization and organization of the  people who are enlightened to become conscious that they are the embodiments of the sovereignty of the nation and are empowered to determine who is to govern their affairs and how, which is the essence of a genuine democratic  change.

14. ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PARTY MAGAZINE

That the party establishes a magazine known as Gonga (THE TRUTH ),which will disseminate the party’s strategic objectives, policies, programmes and plans on all aspects of development, monitor day to day happenings in the country, continent and the world to identify shortcomings  and  standards of best practice in governance for a timely sensitization of our members to make them current in matters of information and knowledge of how to build a modern Sovereign Democratic Republic with free, dignified and prosperous sovereign people.

15. ON PROVISION OF VOLUNTARY SERVICES BY PARTY ACTIVISTS 

That the party rejuvenate its early childhood educational activities by establishing the necessary facilities  and strengthen its adult literacy programmes through night schools in order to show in concrete practice how  education could contribute to the nurturing and empowerment of a sovereign citizen;

16. ON POLITICAL EDUCATION THROUGH SONGS AND DRAMA

That the party establishes a drama and musical group which would entertain and educate the masses on the negative effects of bad governance and positive attributes of good governance, as well as the rights and duties of a sovereign citizen in a democratic sovereign Republic.

17. ENHANCING GAMBIA’S STANDING IN THE SUBREGION, CONTINENT AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

That we will subscribe to universal democratic, republican and humanistic values which make the human person the embodiment of inviolable and inalienable human rights  which we will protect and promote , with firm and unflinching commitment and thus enable  the country to pursue sub-regional and continental unity and attain universal  recognition and acceptance as a nation which is  committed to universal values of liberty, dignity, justice, prosperity and human rights for all.    THE END  ]]>