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New VP urges team work, address cost of living

May 12, 2022, 11:15 AM

The newly appointed vice president of The Gambia has called on members of the new Cabinet to work as a team to achieve the country’s development goals.

Alieu Badara Joof also tasked the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) to work towards urgently addressing the rising cost of living in the country.

“The appointment to cabinet is a privileged one but the position is not driven by the privileges. It is actually driven by performance, results, service delivery and development.”

“To do that we have to work as a team, and to work as a team we need to consult, coordinate, cooperate and dialogue.”

“Working in silence will fragment the development agenda and therefore the realisation of the national development plan will be undermined. So, it is important we work as a team.”

“The recent election is a watershed in Gambian history. We cannot afford to fail. There are some pressing challenges that are facing us recently. One is the crisis of rising cost of living and I would challenge the Minister of Finance, the Governor of Central Bank, incoming Minister of Trade, GRA [Gambia Revenue Authority] people to come together, work with Chamber of Commerce and business community to see how we could mitigate this difficult time,” he said.

“The second challenge is the security situation in this country. Again, the same challenges goes to the Minister of Interior, Minister Defense, security outfits of this country and see how best we can address those things so that this place is safe for everybody, safe for infrastructure, safe for tourism. Those two things we need to have immediate strategies to address those challenging issues,” he added.