By Binta Jaiteh
Mariam Jack Denton, Speaker of the National Assembly, has pointed out some infrastructural gaps of the house as the parliamentarians bid National Assembly farewell while she urged the government to help invest in new annexation of the building.
She made the remarks as they bid farewell to the National Assembly Monday, saying “here are a few technical challenges including no media room or conference room. Unfortunately, although my office tried to engage the assistance of the Turkish Agency for International Cooperation (TIKA) on this matter, it did not result in success. This is a project I dearly wish the next leadership of the National Assembly to take up.”
According to her, on institutional matters, the existing professional staffs are non-partisan, and additional staffs are being recruited to improve on the capacity. The Hansard unit is understaffed but a considerable effort is being made to clear the backlog in transcriptions.
“Furthermore, the FPAC has the mandate to examine the audited accounts of government and the Report of the Auditor General on those accounts. The Public Enterprises Committee (PEC) provides oversight on State Owned Enterprises. Both committees have inherited a backlog of unaudited accounts, but attempts have been made to ensure that government institutions and state-owned enterprises are up to date with their audited accounts in a more timely and effective manner,” she added.
“The infrastructure of Parliament is inadequate and there is a lack of office accommodation for both Members and some professional staffs. There are limited meeting rooms (4 meeting rooms for about 18 committees) and to have served as Speaker of Parliament has been a great honour afforded to very few in our country’s history. Honourable Members, Parliament as an Institution, through the help of the Authority and the Office of the Clerk, we have repositioned and upgraded the Parliamentary Service through institutional capacity buildings recruitments and relevant trainings,” she added.
“We are very proud that we are leaving Parliament today in good and safe hands as far as institutional memory and capacity are concerned meanwhile the employees of the parliamentary Service are very good people and partners, we are proud of! For Parliament and Parliamentarians in general, the future of Gambian progressive politics lies within your hands. I therefore wish the new incoming Legislature and Members all the best in the great task that lies ahead. However, to conclude nothing has brought me greater joy, in my tenure as Speaker and head of the Legislature than the smiles I have seen on the faces of some of our staffs as a result of securing financial and operational independence for Parliament. I am glad that together, as a Parliament we were able to save the future of Parliament as an Institution by passing the National Assembly Service Act, 2021,” she expressed with joy.