In
an effort to raise awareness and understanding on actions that the public can
take to demand institutional reforms and to reduce corruption and improve the
quality of public service delivery, officials of the Anti-Corruption Coalition
Gambia have embarked on a six-day tour to meet communities and local
authorities in Lower River Region (LRR) and Central River Region (CRR).
Addressing
the three communities in Kaur on the issue of corruption, Abdoulie Jadama,
project coordinator of Anti-Corruption Coalition Gambia, said that involves
Community Based Organisations (CBOs), Civil Society Organisation (CSOs) that
come to fight and tackle corruption in The Gambia.
“These
particular meetings are part of the programme that is funded by National
Endowment for Democracy (NED) on development programmes around the world,” he
said, adding that they received a 12 month funding line to support the
communities to have community anti- corruption champions in order to network
and coordinate at community level to fight corruption in The Gambia.
He
revealed that the project was taking place in two area councils in the country:
Kuntaur Area Council and Mansakonko Area Council.
“Our
first meeting is in Kaur and from here, we are going to Kuntaur as a cluster
and then later proceed to Mansakonko Area Council which is the second
beneficiary of the programme.”
Burang
Danjo, technician of the project said he is working with the Ant-Corruption
Coalition Gambia to provide some technical services for them in conducting
capacity assessment for coalition members as well as the target communities or
wards that are about to start the programme.
In
welcoming the team to his town, Baba A. Jarjusey, acting alkalo of Kaur,
Tourary Kunda thanked the Anti-Corruption Coalition Gambia team for the visit,
adding that the visit was very important particularly to them. He said the
awareness of people in this country is still lacking, adding that the coming of
the project would definitely create big impact for them.
Saikou
Jawara, chairman of Kuntaur Area Council, thanked the Ant-Corruption Gambia for
selecting his region, adding that the project would bring a big impact in terms
of understanding corruption.
The
project will enhance the capacity of the Anti-Corruption Coalition, the Gambia
(ACCG) as a national institution in fighting corruption and enhance its
relationships with national anti-corruption actors and international advisory
organizations; such as the Partnership for Transparency (PTF). The project will also establish a cascade model,
directed by the ACCG, of national and local anti-corruption.