Kebba Ansu Manneh
President Adama Barrow has vowed that his new cabinet will not be business as usual for any civil servants who prioritise social activities rather than attending to their works, warning that civil servants should choose and prioritise their public jobs over social activities.
Addressing Banjul Muslim Elders and Imams at State House on Monday he said the act must stop immediately.
“We must reduce the attendance of our social activities, anyone who has a naming ceremony will not go for work, my sister will be wed and you will not go for work. We must reduce social activities and concentrate on our work because from now on this will not be allowed,” President Barrow cautioned civil servants.
He added: “We must take our work as our priority because without work we cannot develop. Without work, we will be sitting at the corners and junctions complaining and nothing will change.”
The Gambian leader noted that every day he reports to work by 7:45am, quarrelling that “if I can be in my office by that time why should civil servants report to work by 9am or 10am,” he rhetorically asked.”
He observed that civil servants who are not punctual and regular at work are mostly those who bend on daily criticism of his government, adding that those are the lousy ones who themselves are reporting for work by 10am and before 3pm, they close and go home.
“Civil service is the engine of the government and over the past we have tried a lot especially on the site of reforms, which is always a problem for people because it involves changes that are always against a section.
However, I want to promise that the new cabinet coming will have a Ministry that will be solely responsible for the issues of the civil servants,” President Barrow revealed his government’s plan for reform in stock.
He added: “The daily business of this Ministry will be entirely based on the welfare of the civil servants in line with our efforts to have an outright and active civil service ready for work.
“There are claims that President Barrow is calm, he doesn’t want to work but if anyone doesn’t want me to disturb you, you have to deliver because this time is different. I don’t want to be like a pepper but I will be like a bitter tomato,” he noted.
President Barrow also disclosed his government’s plan to create an inspector unit that will be established under the office of the civil service, noting that the daily business of this unit will be monitoring who is coming on time, who closes earlier before time, who will keep files in their offices for more than a month or so.
He said the government will only allow 48hrs for files to be processed, arguing that any file that enters his office will only take 24hours, there will be no reason why a file should stay longer in public offices.
On the budding cabinet and government operations “It is God and the people of the Gambia who brought me to power and I am working on their missions day and night.
Today there is nobody who loves the Gambia more than me because whatever good happens the credit is for all but anything that went bad is entirely mine, this is why I said no one loves this country more than me and I wouldn’t sit and see things being destroyed in this country,” he stressed.
He added: “Whatever spoils in this country everyone will say is President Barrow but whatever is successful everyone wants to take that credit and brag about it. Today rice is expensive is President Barrow, sugar is expensive is President Barrow and they know that is hypocrisy because they know how much a container of sugar is costing now.”
According to him, a container of sugar used to cost $2, 500 but now it’s costing $11, 000, highlighting that businessmen are finding it difficult to secure the amount of containers that they usually ordered.
President Barrow further reiterates that the impact of coronavirus has caused global scarcity of containers that are needed to deliver goods and services, arguing that these were the real issues that brought about the situation which is not only limited to the Gambia but across the globe.
The Gambian Leader offered his solutions by calling on all Gambians to get back to work and what can ease the problem is for us all to go back, stating that sitting at the corners criticising the government will not solve the problems, what can solve the problems is for us to get to work.
“Very soon the government will be constituted, many are agitating when the government will be formed but it is at the corner. This time is going to be based on a performance contract, if you work hard you stay if not you give ways there are a lot of Gambians to choose from,” President Barrow pointed out.
He added: “The maslaha is now over because we fully know that it is only through hard work that can land us to our desired destination. The fact that if anything spoils me, I will not relent to seeing things going bad, I will not allow seeing that happen as I am ready to end that for the good of my legacy.”
The Gambian leader also highlighted that he wants to set a legacy that will allow him to stay in the country even after his presidency, disclosing that he wants to establish a foundation that will allow him to continue his humanitarian gestures.
