By Kemo Kanyi
The National Agency for Legal Aid (NALA) outlined a range of issues that, it said, impede the implementation of its mandate.
NALA is mandated to provide legal assistance to Gambians for free or at a very low cost. As part of its mandate, the agency provides legal guidance to alleged child offenders (ACO) and children in contact with the law.
The issues of funding, staffing, and mobility dominated discussionsat a two-day multi-stakeholder roundtable conference on the theme Access to Justice in The Gambia Through Effective Legal Aid Services Provision held at the Sir Dawda Jawara International Conference Centre. Senior legal officer Mariama Singhateh emphasized that if NALA was desirous of retaining its staff, there shall be the right organogram that helps staff improvement and also gives them opportunities for further academic pursuits. She added that equal opportunities should be given to the NALA staff as those working for the Ministry of Justice.
NALA board member John Charles Njie observed that NALA needs a budget separate from that of the justiceministry.
“National Agency for Legal Aid should have its own budget separate from the line ministry. If that is done, we will be able to retain staff working with us because we will be able to give them the remuneration they deserve, thereby improving its capacity to serve the people of The Gambia as expected,” he said.
It was revealed during the two-day conference that NALA retains less than 15 staff, who move from one region to the other, to carry out its mandate.
It was also revealed that the transportation of staff to different courts around the country was a challenge to the agency.
Meanwhile, the objectives of the discussion were to identify challenges faced by NALA in providing access to justice to vulnerable communities and exploresolutions to the issues.