“In contemporary politics, legislative representation based on universal adult suffrage in The Gambia dates to 1962, when elections were held for a 32-seat House of Representatives,” he added.
However, business in this Organ of State has since been enshrined for the making of laws and serving as a check and balance on the Executive and the Judiciary.
He said the enactment of the Act to establish the National Assembly Service, and its governing body in 2021 affirmed the autonomy of the Assembly in its oversight functions.
Reflecting on the reformation trend, Mr Cardos indicated that the challenges that came with the history of the successes could only be surmounted by unreserved commitment and determination of the staff. “It took us a decade or more to be able to bring an autonomy bill to the floor of the House”, he said.
The hiring of new staff, he said is informed by the magnitude of the responsibility vested in the Parliament to provide effective legislation in line with standards and best practice. “This kind of work attracts certain talents and disciplines programmed in meeting the organisation’s objectives.”
Momodou A. Sise, the clerk of the National Assembly, said induction training was organised with the aim to familiarise new employees with the ‘modus operandi’ of the Assembly as well as acquaint them with the institution’s internal regimes and policies.
According to him, the new enrolment is meant to reinforce different departments in the legislative business such as Hansard, Legal Affairs, Finance and Research.
He rated the training as adequate for the new staff to contextualise the Assembly organogram and lines of operational traffic among departments and units.
Madi Jobarteh, Westminster Foundation for Democracy Country Representative said the ongoing drive to strengthen the National Assembly workforce is being supported by Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD).
“Since 2017, WFD has been working in The Gambia to strengthen the structures and processes of its parliament and to promote greater public involvement in and engagement with political processes,” he said.
He said the induction for new members of staff forms part of their objective to build the human and institutional capacity of the National Assembly.
The National Assembly of the Republic of The Gambia operates under the following Core Values: professionalism, integrity, openness, fairness, participation, accountability, responsiveness and supremacy of national interest.
