Mr. President, last week on
20 January, The United Kingdom hosted its first Africa Summit with about 22
countries and 16 heads of state in London without linguistic divide.
Traditional events such as the UK-Africa investment summit attract global
interest but this time it kicked off regrettably without The Gambia. Previous
events organised by countries such as the USA, India, Japan, France and China
extended invitations to all African states to discuss trade, investments and
politics and Gambia was never excluded.
Mr. President, the absence of
The Gambia in this important UK-Africa investment summit has made the general
public enquire from your government why Gambia was not present at the summit?
Was it an oversight or is the
Gambia’s longtime relationship with the UK now on brink of relegation? Is it
because the New Gambia has not fulfilled its obligations within the dictates of
the Commonwealth’s values and principles or lack of foresight?
Mr. President, the country at
this stage should be prepared to take advantage of the latest in a series of
what is coming to be known as Africa-plus-one summit referring to the idea of
several African countries plus one non-African country doing business.
Mr. President, the Turkish
President RaceppTayibb Edergon is coming to The Gambia today for the first time
for day’s visit and several experts and businessmen are accompanying him. You
and members of your government should take the opportunity to review and
strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the two countries especially in
the field of trade, infrastructure, energy, health, education, military
cooperation, transport, health and other important areas.
Mr. President, last week, we
wrote about the issues of permits and demonstrations in the country but then it
seems like another part of the movie is unfolding.
The issue of denying
political parties permit to hold their rallies will only cause more chaos in
the country. Political parties who have met all the requirement of the IEC
should be given chance to hold rallies in order to be able to sell their
manifestos. There are many new political parties registered recently and they
need to promote their political agendas too.
Mr. President, the playing
field needs to be levelled so that we can all work towards achieving a peaceful
election next year.
The IGP should avoid denying
permits for days and then giving it at the last hour. Proper scrutinising
always has to be done before reaching a conclusion to avoid confusions and
confrontations.
Finally Mr. President, there
has been news of a recent disease caused by the Coronavirus which has already
killed about 45 people in China.
It is very important that the
Health minister and health personnel be on the alert and get equipped response
team on the standby. The populace needs to be educated and sensitised about
this disease.
There should be very strict
surveillance in our borders especially at the airport. It is necessary to check
thoroughly those coming from Asia particularly China.
Prevention is better than
cure.
Good day!
