By Mama A. Touray
Hon. Fabakary Tombong Jatta, Speaker of the National Assembly has on Wednesday opened a capacity building training for National Assembly Members held at Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara conference centre.
Speaking at the opening of the training Hon. Speaker said: “The forum will explore and analyse the contribution that the National Assembly can make through effective legislation, representation and oversight, to consolidate democracy, peace and security.”
He also said the forum will focus on the representational role of the National Assembly thereby examining how Hon. Members can respond to the growing public pressure for greater involvement, information, accountability, and better service delivery to citizens.
Hon. Jatta explained further: “There is already growing interest more than ever before in issues related to democracy, peace and development. This is a reflection of the increasing acceptance of the fact that democracy and good governance are not a luxury, but a fundamental requirement to achieve sustainable development.”
Hon. Jatta added that in the performance of their key functions of legislation, representation and oversight, parliaments can actively engage in the development and implementation.
“Parliamentarians speak on behalf of the poor and other vulnerable groups, ensure that development plans are informed by the real priorities on the ground, adopt requisite legislation, approve budget allocations and exercise oversight functions to effectively deliver on this herculean task,” he said.
According to the Hon. Speaker, the engagement will also accord Hon. Members the opportunity to share experiences with the resource persons to illustrate the different options that the national assembly can use to better engage with the citizens to fulfil its role of representation and identify innovations and experiences from other countries to show how parliamentary representation is evolving.