A
prominent Gambian businessman, Modou Turo Darboe, had spent nearly D2 million
on gifts to Muslims across the country during the Ramadan.
The
money was spent through his organisation, Vision Development Foundation, and it
included the purchasing of forty bulls that were also given out to Imams and
other associations and departments, and individuals.
The
total money spent was revealed to the media at the last day of the Ramadan food
aid distribution at Mr Darboe’s office in Churchill’s Town.
This
year’s annual distribution was mainly presided over parliamentarians, cabinet
ministers and top government officials who expressed their amazement with the
gesture.
The
public relations officer of VDF, Saikou Fofana, said the organisation has been
rendering “this kind of services in the past years”.
He
said the overall aim of VDF was to complement the efforts of the government and
the community in support the poor and the needy.
He
said due to the demand of the population, VDF has expanded its operation beyond
the Greater Banjul Area to other regions such as Central River Region, North
Bank Region and West Coast Region.
For
her part, Trade Minister, Dr Isatou Touray, hailed Turo Darboe for supporting
the poor and the needy during the holy month of Ramadan.
She
said Mr Darboe’s support was “a great symbolic significance”.
“Mr
Darboe gives out to the needy was a lesson for the government to try as much as
possible to emulate him in a bid to reducing poverty,” the minister said.
Also
speaking, the majority leader of the National Assembly, Kebba K. Barrow,
confirmed that helping the poor during the Ramadan was a usual trend for VDF
under its CEO Turo Darboe
He
said one of the core activities of the VDF was to help the needy and the
vulnerable members of the society.
He
called on Gambian philanthropists to emulate Mr Darboe’s footstep.
For
his part, the National Assembly member for Wuli West, Hon. Sedia Jatta, who was
in attendance to help Mr Darboe in the distribution of food aids and cash,
described the move as “a very good benevolent gesture”.
Modou
Turo Darboe, for his part, said he inherited the benevolence from his father
and he vowed to continue helping humanity.
