By Binta Jaiteh
The National Assembly in collaboration with the Westminster Foundation for Democratic (WFD) on Saturday held the 2 Edition of Parliament Open Day held at the National Assembly Complex in Banjul.
The open day is a platform where members of parliament and staff will share the unique history, role, and work as well as challenges and successes of the assembly body and also bring the parliament closer to the people.
In his opening remark, the Speaker of the assembly, Fabakary Tombomg explained in detail the purpose of the day which he said is meant to create a connection between different stakeholders
“It is intended that the marking of this day will serve to raise the favorable public perception and enhance public participation and involvement in the work of the Legislature,” he noted.
The Hon Speaker stated that with greater popular participation and involvement, the work and role of the Assembly and NAMs will be better understood and appreciated to overcome some of the challenges faced by the legislature thereby facilitating their roles in representation, law-making, and oversight.
According to him the second edition of the open day has come at a time when the National Assembly is progressively honouring the commitments it entered with the electorates.
However, he added that there has also been significant improvement in Parliamentary oversight of executive action, particularly on public finance and expenditure tracking in addition to other important projects aimed at consolidating the rule of law.
Momodou A Sise, Clerk of the Assembly also said “A day like this demonstrates the commitment of the Legislature to be a more open and accessible institution to the public and further denotes an improvement in service delivery and promotion of citizen engagement.”
Clerk Sise added that as they continue to provide effective service delivery, every success is as a result of the collective efforts of the brilliant staff, together with the cooperation of the honourable members and the technical guidance of their partners.
“As a parliamentary staff, we are guided by the principle of impartiality and priority on Legislative Business. We innovate and adapt to new changes as parliaments evolve, to effectively deliver on our mandate,” he said.