Members
of the National Assembly on Tuesday 19th November, 2019 began its week long
annual pre-budget analysis training at the Tendaba Camp, Lower River Region.
The
training, convened annually after the the Draft Estimate of Revenue and
Expenditure of the Government is tabled before deputies, is in accordance with
Section 27 of the Public Finance Act, 2004, which requires the National
Assembly to appoint a small core of technical staff to assist in gathering
information, making research and analysis on issues pertinent to its
deliberations and resolutions on the Budget submitted to it by the Minister.
The
training, according to Momodou A. Sise, Clerk of the National Assembly, is
designed to enable Hon. Members have a thorough scrutiny of the budget with the
assistance of a small core of technical experts. He added that it is a significant exercise
because the budget is the only single instrument that piece together an overall
framework of governance programmes and policies in each sector.
He
further noted that the Pre-Budget training is one of the instruments utilized
by the National Assembly and development partners to ensure that Hon. Members
acquire the required knowledge, skills and expertise to deal with the National
Budget.
“The
training is very relevant considering the fact that the Constitution allocates
only 14 days for the National Assembly to consider and Approve the Draft
Estimates. Hence, the necessity to adequately prepare NAMs for this challenging
engagement”:, he stated.
The
Governor of Lower River Region, Madam Rohey John Manjang expressed appreciation
that the National Assembly is engaged in such a significant national
development training. According to her, it is an economic reality that
resources are scarce in relation to human wants and that reality does not
exclude the government.
“For
development to be achieved in the midst of limited resources, the government
has to make trade-offs and prioritization’, she stated whilst reminding Members
of the National Assembly that as they take a closer look at the budget, they
should bear in mind that the objective of the government is to have an
all-inclusive and effective budget that responds to the development needs of
the people.
For
her part, Hon. Mariam Jack Denton, Speaker of the National Assembly reminded
Hon. Members that the Draft Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure sets out the
forecast for the macroeconomic variables and the baseline scenario for revenue
and expenditure flows for the government and it comprises the macroeconomic
objectives notably: income of the government and the programme projections for
the public sectors for the year under review.
She
went on to state that the pre-budget retreat is sanctioned to provide Hon.
Members with the core requirements for effective budget scrutiny. Such requirements include among others,
ensuring that NAMs receive comprehensible information on the budget and acquire
the skills to interpret and utilise such information.
“Our
role as legislators is to give this budget a seal of approval after thorough
examination and deliberations. This retreat, which we usually convene before
deliberating on the budget is therefore, a great window of opportunity for us
as representatives of the people to harness the required skills and techniques
to interrogate the budget from different perspectives and as well ensure that
it is in line with the wider development objectives of the Government”, she
remarked whilst noting that as representatives of the people, the National
Assembly’s effective participation in the Budget process establishes checks and
balances that are crucial for transparent and accountable government to ensure
efficient delivery of public services.
