According to the Order Paper of the day, lawmakers were expected to deliberate on a Matter of the Day regarding Stateless People living in Ghana Town (by Hon. Alhagie Babou Ceesay, Member for Sabach Sanjal). They were also scheduled to consider the Early Warning and Response Mechanism Bill 2024, the National Population Bill 2024, and the approval of candidates for Chairperson and Commissioners of the Gambia Anti-Corruption Commission.
But with more than a third of the chamber empty, the session could not proceed.
During the brief sitting, some members expressed strong frustration over the recurring problem of poor attendance.
Hon. Sainey Jawara, Member for Lower Saloum, urged the Speaker to be firm with the rules.
“You have to take the bull by the horns. This is why yesterday you were trying to give us that rule but members did not want to understand. They want to shift the blame on you,” he said.
Hon. Samba Jallow, from Niamina Dankunkung lamented that the issue has been dragging since the start of the Fifth Legislature.
“This issue of quorum is lingering in this assembly this time. What is stipulated in this standing order is our own rule. If we are not respecting our own rule, who is respecting us?”
He added that lawmakers must uphold punctuality.
“The rule is 10 o’clock, we should be here. This is why we are elected. We must apply a strict rule so that at 10 o’clock we are here to start business. If we don’t start business, then we follow what the standing order says because we are the ones exposing ourselves.”
But Hon. Alhagie Mbowe, Member for Upper Saloum, took a different tone, arguing that the Assembly’s rules were not meant to be rigid to the point of blocking parliamentary work.
“Our laws are not meant to be so rigid that would prevent us from transacting businesses,” he said.
He cited a provision allowing the Speaker to delay proceedings for up to one hour to allow more members to arrive. “If you can defer for one hour, I think we can call one another and then we can continue the business.”
Responding to all sides, Speaker Fabakary Tombong Jatta acknowledged the concerns but said the law gives him two options; delay for up to one hour or adjourn to another date.
“I want us to learn the lessons, because this thing has been on. If I am adjourning, I will adjourn to the next day so that we all know that things have fallen apart, that’s where we are, and we need to do better.”
He then adjourned the session to Wednesday, 3rd December 2025 at 10 a.m. prompt, urging members to report on time so parliamentary business can finally proceed.
