By: Mama A.Touray
President Adama Barrow has paid tribute to all the other political contenders for their sense of patriotism and love for the country while he called for close ranks to work collectively with his administration for the progress and development of the beloved nation.
He made the call during his inauguration held at the Independence Stadium, Bakau on Wednesday, “No sector, institution or segment of our society will be left out of the development process.”
He added: To achieve this, I will lead as President of all Gambians and form a Cabinet that will work to heal the nation, create avenues for reconciliation, tap the talent and capacity of all Gambian nationals, and accommodate diversity for sustained peace and stability.”
President further emphasised that “as President of the Republic of The Gambia, I have committed myself, under oath, to honour, preserve and uphold the Constitution of the Republic and to serve The Gambia devotedly.”
“As we embark on the mission of achieving a more progressive Gambia in the next five years, I pledge to put more emphasis on uplifting the status of all Gambians, especially the underprivileged and vulnerable Gambians in underserved communities. Under my administration, we shall ensure that development is duly distributed within all the regions of the country,” he pointed out.
He stated that it is misleading, however, to believe that the Government alone can ensure the rapid transformation of The Gambia, saying that the tasks ahead require the collective, decisive and positive participation of all Gambians, irrespective of ethnic or political affiliation, gender, or religion.
“As Gambians, let us embrace the culture of peace and peaceful coexistence as one Gambian family for our betterment and those unborn.
As we march on, our conscience, belief in God, sense of social justice and our characteristics and values as Gambians should define our relationships, devotion to duty and attachment to the nation,” he noted
According to President Barrow human life and human dignity must come first, saying that the electoral constituencies are not as mere physical boundaries for election purposes, but as social constituencies composed of various categories of people.
He also said key among them are the youths, the women, the elderly, and the vulnerable, including the mentally and physically challenged.
The Gambian leader further said these categories of people received due attention in the past five years, and this will be stepped up revealing that the new Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare will intensify efforts to complement other relevant programs and interventions.
Speaking on youths and women, he disclosed Tekki Fii Programme and the Youth Empowerment Project, and with support from the European Union, the Government successfully created more than five thousand (5,000) jobs supported eight hundred (800) small businesses, while he vowed to increase such interventions.
He pointed out that based on first-hand experience, he is fully aware that the tasks that lie ahead are many, complicated, and difficult to tackle.
He told Gambian that “each of our sectors has huge gaps to fill. We will harness our resources, build our knowledge and technology capabilities with the relevant skills and competencies to energise our development efforts.”
With better quality education, he said, all institutions will impact the lives of the citizens more significantly, address the technology requirements for the agriculture sector, and will be more impactful in the fight to eradicate the poverty levels across the country.
