Training has improved performance at Justice Ministry - Solicitor General Jammeh

Pa Harry Jammeh the Solicitor General and Legal Secretary at the Attorney General's Chambers and Ministry of Justice has said that a series of training sessions conducted by the Legal Capacity Building Project phase two has greatly improved overall performance at the Ministry of Justice.

"Training has improved performance at the Justice Ministry; has brought us together as a team, and things are moving effectively at the Ministry of Justice, thanks to LCBP. The Legal Capacity Building Project has in the past conducted series of training for the staff at the Ministry of Justice, and this has actually made a lot of difference in terms of performance and output," he added.

Solicitor General Jammeh was speaking in an interview with our reporter Friday shortly after the closing of a two-day training course for state prosecutors and heads of units, organized by the Legal Capacity Building Project of the UK Department for International Development held at the LCBP conference hall in Banjul.

He described as important the training, noting that a good lawyer is one who is twisted for knowledge and learning is a life-long process.

According to him, no one can claim to have a monopoly of knowledge. "It is good to have people with perquisite expertise to come and then share and brainstorm on academic issues. All these things are quite important in terms of our personality and intellectual growth as a Ministry," he noted.

Solicitor General Jammeh stated that the LCBP conducted a series of training sessions for the staff of the ministry last year, adding that because of the limited funding on the part of the LCBP, they could not have the training programs anticipated.

Also speaking to our reporter, Sanna Dahaba the project coordinator of LCBP Phrase II, dilated on the aims and objectives of the project, noting that the Gambia’s legal system is being strengthened through the introduction of incremental reforms to improve efficiency and effectiveness, and better ensure access to justice to the poor.

Robert Hutley, the Project Manager of LCBP Project Phrase II, who was also the resource person, said the objective of strategic planning is to familiarize participants with the concept of strategic and operational planning, to also understand the benefit of good planning, the importance of organizational culture in achieving organizational change and the techniques for ensuring operationlisation of the strategic plan.

He stated that strategic planning is a process directed by top management to determine the fundamental aims or goals of an organization, and ensure a range of decisions, which will allow for the achievement of those aims or goals in the long term, whilst providing an adoptive response in the short term.