By Binta Jaiteh
The Lawmaker for Foni Bintang Karanai, Bakary Badjieapplauded President Adama Barrow for sacking the Minister of Basic and Secondary Education (MOBSE) Claudiana Cole.
The member was contributing during the adjournment debate as Parliament was adjourned sine-die on Thursday. “I thank the President sincerely from my heart for sacking the Minister because this Ministry is one of the most sensitive and over populated Ministry,” he asserted
According him, the ministry consists of 40% of the civil servants; that is why it should not be neglected. This ministry should be a priority for the government as it determined the future of our children. “We need ministers who will set the path, so that the future leaders can be well-educated for the betterment of our country. I was advocating for this for long but thanks Allah that it has happened finally,” he remarked.
The member also highlighted the issue of electricity in his constituency saying most of the villages lacked electricity and majority of the villages were over-populated. “Am pleading with the Minister of Petroleum to intervene and assist my people so that the matter can be addressed urgently,” said Hon. Badjie “We are in the 21st century and we can’t afford to live without electricity.
Meanwhile, the adjournment debate is the time for the parliamentarians to express themselves and voice out the needs of their electorates.
Badjie stated that the so-called new Gambia some people claimed was faked considering the high crime rate, high cost of living, robbery, corruption, nepotism that has dominated the country. He questioned if this was “the new Gambia and the democracy we fought for, this cannot be accepted.”
“The worst annoying issue right now in the country is the movement of ministers from one ministry to another. I don’t agree with this development because transferring one minister to another is like transferring virus from one ministry to another,” he lamented.
The lawmaker stressed that any minister found to be incompetent should be dismissed immediately without any compromise, if not he or she could influence other ministers.