The average Gambian survives from hand to mouth due to poor salaries and wages they receive at the end of every working month. This is not commensurable with the frustrating market realities as the price of the most basic food commodities keep rising exorbitantly and frequently. Affordability of such items have become one of the crucial factors to decide the upcoming presidential election to be held on December 4, just a few days away.Muhammad Camara, a father of six told MAJaC News that all the income he earns is spent on feeding. He said the high cost of feeding affects his allocations for other needed areas such as taking care of the health and education of his family.“Even taking my children to hospital when they are sick is a problem because my earnings stop at feeding my family.”The December election is timely for Muhammed, just like it is for other Gambians. He vowed to use his marble wisely for a candidate he believes would turn things around in the market. For him, candidates who share a practical agenda for an increased food production thereby reducing high dependency on expensive imported food items will get his vote.A housewife, Fatou Bojang, said the price hike of food items has created nutritional shortages, as most people could not afford the practice of a balanced diet anymore. According to her, D150 is no longer enough to buy a good fish from the market.“I might not even vote in this coming election because an empty bag cannot stand. I cannot go to the polls while I’m hungry. If this is not addressed, I might end up begging to feed my family because my husband is sick and I cannot even afford three square meals a day.”Fatou blamed the business people for the frequent increase in price of food items, stating that, it is now common to find an increment on a particular item just within a few days. For Mariama Jatta, a consumer, she blamed the politicians for not prioritizing the market condition that is affecting the whole nation, rather, waging personal attacks against one another on political platforms. She described livelihoods as very difficult in the current situation.“Help me to get rich while we remain poor is what politicians are vying for but not to address our needs.” Irish potato and other basic goods on sale at SereKunda marketA recent price finding conducted by this platform as of December 2 has shown that a bag of rice costs D1, 500, a bag of sugar is D1,700, a bag of onion is D650, locust beans (neteto) is now 10 dalasis, and a cube of jumbo is now D2.50.During the lockdown period necessitated by COVID-19 last year, the Ministry of Trade has issued a statement setting the prices of basic commodities, a decision which also threatened to penalize business people who are engaged in hoarding.However, the market is no longer adhering to such proclamations even when the government never came to lift the order.Mamad Salieu, stall owner at Serekunda market selling various foods, blamed the high cost of commodities on the prices they also bought at, as well as the expenditures they incur from transportation and taxes. He said their primary objective is to make profit.He has challenged the winner of the upcoming election to reduce the high taxes imposed on businesses which he believes would lead to ease in pricing of commodities, especially food items.What promises are candidates making about it?2021 Presidential Candidates, PC: IEC ArchivesEssa Faal, an independent candidate, published his manifesto last month, outlining his plans to ensure food security in the country. He promised to create a thriving sector for the increased production of large and diversified food baskets that will also guarantee a sustainable employment in 10 years. “Improved efficiency in food production and processing, and a huge reduction in food waste in the first 3 years of my government,” Faal's manifesto stated.Faal believes that Gambians will find a sustainable balance in market price of basic food items when such commodities are produced in the country rather than relying on importation.The United Democratic Party (UDP), the perceived main challenger of the incumbent, has also outlined their manifesto in a 5-point agenda. UDP has promised its commitment to eradicate child malnutrition, guarantee food security for the entire population by motivating farmers.“So, they will stay on the farm because if you look at the farming community is dwindling, we are having more people and fewer farmers. So where do you get food? You import it at the expense of a huge amount of foreign exchange,” Lamin Manneh, who is a leading figure in drafting of the party’s agenda, told The Standard.“We want to revert it. Import substitution, produce the food here and keep the foreign exchange, and at the end, sell part of that food and earn foreign exchange. That is the way forward for the Gambia,” Manneh added.Meanwhile, Halifa Sallah, the leader of the People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) has promised to create cooperative sector that will accumulate cooperative finances to support family farms, create small scale processing of grains, nuts fruits and vegetables as part of the plan to eradicate poverty and creating balance in the market by also encouraging women producers and vendors.“They live in poverty, grow in poverty, age in poverty, and die in poverty. That is what we wish to end. How? By using your wealth. Twenty-three billion [dalasi] is your budget this coming year (2022). The ocean is here. Others are exploiting it,” he said.In the party’s transformative agenda, PDOIS also promised to increase the individual income and community income to rise proportionately to facilitate availability and affordability of food.One of the newest political parties contesting the election is the National Unity party (NUP) led by Abdoulie Ebrima Jammeh, former Director General at the Gambia Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). During his nomination, he told journalists that his first task, if elected president would be stabilizing the economy, the impact of which will regularize the market turbulent. “We need to rebalance our economy when we are elected. This is an immediately priority,” Jammeh said.Like other candidates, Jammeh’s manifesto has promised Gambians a better coordination and implementation of agricultural policies to ensure economic growth and reduce poverty in the country.The incumbent Adama Barrow, also the leader of the National People’s Party has consistently blamed the high cost of commodities on the global market system, which is suffering from the wreck of COVID-19. However, he has promised to provide support to local farmers to increase productivity of food items such as rice and other agricultural products.At a campaign meeting held in Jarrol, Foni, last week, Barrow promised to execute a plan worth of over $175 million investment plan in the field of Agriculture. According to him, “there is US$80 million plan for rice production, US$28 million for storage, US$27 million on rearing of goats and sheep and another additional US$40 million coming into the agriculture sector”.The Gambia Democratic Congress has provided in their manifesto that they will put a sound economic policy in Agriculture, Tourism and Fisheries Development.Expert view Nyang Njie, Gambian economist, PC-TFNAn economist, Nyang Njie, said high cost of living is attributed to high inflation that makes people's purchasing power less. He said it could also be attributed to higher unemployment, which makes people not being able to make an income to feed themselves.To tackle the problem, Njie suggested that the government should reduce taxation imposed on imports like flour which is a buy-product of bread.“Most of the vegetables that Gambians eat are imported. So it's high time to grow these vegetables in the country, thereby making it cheaper and accessible to all Gambians,” he said. He said Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs should work closely with the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture to find ways and means of making food available and accessible, especially to the poor
The road to democracy was ushered in 2016 when the Gambia went to the polls to change the president for the first time through the ballot box, a move that uprooted dictatorship after 22 years. A new vision for The Gambia included a new constitution and accountability for past human rights violations. A Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission was also established to probe human rights violations committed between July 1994 to January 2017. As part of fulfilling the desires of the Gambians people, a commission was set up and tasked with drafting a constitution that reflects the wishes and aspiration of citizens thus ushering in the birth of a third republic. The new constitution would replace the 1997 constitution which supported the self-perpetuating design of the ex-leader. The draft constitution was a fundamental agenda to the reform processes in the Gambia under the new regime as the country needed so many institutional reforms thus over D116 million was invested in the 2020 draft Constitution. More than two years after the process began, and after a highly acrimonious and polarised parliamentary debate, the proposed Constitution Promulgation Bill, 2020 was voted out by the National Assembly. This bill would have brought in a new constitution to replace the 1997 constitution, however, with 23 lawmakers voting against the backing of 31 MPs, it fell short of the three-quarters required to put it to a referendum. A new constitution was one of the campaign promises of the Coalition 2016, intended to usher in a new dawn and promote secularism, good governance and multiparty democracy. Five years down the line, these promises are not met thus dashing away the hopes of Gambians. The draft constitution introduced several measures aimed at enhancing and strengthening democracy. They included a presidential term limit, limits on executive power and greater political inclusion of marginalised groups (including women, youth and people with disabilities). It provided for a Bill of Rights chapter that complied with international and regional human rights standards, and provided for freedom of the media and access to information. Madi Jobarteh, a human right activist, said the Barrow administration did not encourage the lawmakers that are affiliated with his government to support a yes vote for the draft constitution to pass. Mr. Jobarteh stated that a lot of money spent on this draft constitution, an initiative by the Barrow’s government as such expects it in the forefront to advocate for its transient to ensure those NAMS affiliated to the President to vote for it. Madi Jobarteh points out that the rejection of the draft constitution hugely influenced his vote in this year’s election. Kaddijatou Jawo, a journalist, was “disappointed for the fact that the new constitution would have been the best thing ever Gambians were anticipating to happen when the new administration took over.” “The new constitution would have paved the way for presidential term limits, which would have helped in the democratic process,’’ she said. Ms Jawo is still optimistic that the new draft constitution would someday be approved, and that hopes are not entirely lost. Mustapha Sonko, a Migration Officer at the National Youth Council, said there could have been a compromise among various parties to ensure the draft constitution was passed. “’I am disappointed not only with the current administration, but the fact that the entire process was debated based on interest, on political dimension,’’ he said. During the campaign for votes in the December 4 presidential elections, some of the candidates (Essa Mbye Faal, Ousainou Darboe, Halifa Sallah) promised to bring the draft constitution back to life should they win. They did not. Barrow, who won the polls with a margin of 25% between him and his main challenger, did not provide for the revival of the draft constitution in his party’s manifesto. But on Tuesday December 7, he made a fresh promise to deliver a new constitution. "I assure you we will have a new constitution before the end of my term. I am committed to it and I will make sure it happens," the president-elect told local and international journalists in Banjul, the capital. He also promised to ensure there are limited terms for the president and an absolute majority voting system where a candidate needs to meet a minimum threshold if they are to be elected in a first round ballot or face a second round where they fail to meet the threshold of more than 50% of the total votes cast. Tuesday’s announcement has renewed hopes for a new constitution.
The Gambia conducted a peaceful campaign and presidential election, but tolerance for political and ethnic diversity are the must-needed behaviours that can sustain tranquillity in the country. The country went to polls on December 4, 2021 and the incumbent Adama Barrow has been declared the winner after amassing 53 percent of the total votes cast, beating his main challenger Ousainu Darboe, leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP), by more than 200, 000 votes. However, a bit of controversy ensued the following day after the election as three opposition candidates from the UDP, Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) and independent candidate Essa Fall called a joint press briefing in Fajara to reject the results without providing any evidence of malpractice. This created panic in the country as supporters of the UDP gathered in numbers at Darboe’s residence. Faal though has since withdrawn stating that there were no sufficient grounds to claim against electoral fraud. The Police Intervention Unit was deployed to disperse the crowd using tear gas. Youth and peace advocates have since been calling for political tolerance and respect for diversity. “For us to maintain the peace that we are known for in this country, we should be able to respect and accept diversity, and most importantly, promote unity at all times," Bakary Sonko, National Programmes Coordinator of Peace Hub – The Gambia, said. He said everyone has the responsibility to maintain the peace of this country and everyone has the right to belong to any political party. However, citizens must respect laws, tolerate each other’s differences and exercise their franchise during the election and maintain peace afterwards. Sonko believes that politicians are the right people to convince the masses to maintain peace, the primary role of politicians during and after the electoral periods is to advocate for peace alongside their manifestos. “Political parties have a bigger role to play. They have the responsibility to counsel their party militants to support without any form of insult or negative stereotypes towards other groups,” he emphasised. Jeopardised by politics The Global Youth Parliament’s Regional Coordinator for West Coast Region, Kemo Fatty, said The Gambia's peaceful atmosphere must not be jeopardised by politics. He advised youth and women to be agents of peace and desist from all forms of violence. “They must be engaged both day and night to ensure tranquillity in the electoral process,” he said. Meanwhile, Fatou B.S. Badjie, Co-Founder of Girls in The Frontline for Development (GFD), said political leaders should always prioritise peace dialogues at all their fora. She said women groups should be involved in the implementation of peace initiatives at community levels. GFD is built on advocacy pillars such as peacebuilding, prevention of violence, and tackling gender-based violence. “We all have our fundamental human rights in which you have the right to assemble, the right to belong to any political party... So, we should understand that politics is not here to divide us, instead, it gives the platform to express divergent views that would help the country to grow,” Badjie explained. In as much as everybody has the right to support a candidate or a party, Badjie said everyone must also be committed to promoting peace and that must start at individual level. “Peace has to start with oneself. If you are not peaceful, you cannot help others to maintain peace. One has to understand how important peace is to ourselves, and then we will know how important it is to the entire nation," she said. The Gambia is still a fledgling democracy, which is struggling to break from its brutal past, and does not seek a repeat of the 2016/2017 crisis, which saw thousands of citizens fled to neighbouring Senegal to seek refuge following a disputed election. Although two opposition parties contest the results, all the international observers including five former African presidents and local observers have described the outcome as free and fair. The Gambia’s three-year election cycle continues in April 2022 with a parliamentary election in which 53 seats are up for grab and in March 2023 with a local government election in which 2 mayoral and 5 chairperson seats are up for grab. Therefore, the advocacy for diversity, tolerance and peace remains highly needed in the country’s political discourse ahead of these crucial votes.
The rise in the price of basic commodities in The Gambia for the past few months is unprecedented and rather challenging for low-income earners. The rise in prices isn’t showing no sign of decline weeks after Gambians re-elected Adama Barrow. The Gambia is a country with 48.5% of the population living below USD 1 a day. The current level of inflation in the country is becoming a nightmare for consumers whose expenditures are higher than their earnings. The situation, which remains hostile for low-income earners, necessitated their call for concern of price hike of goods. In Gambia, the inflation rate measures a broad rise or fall in prices that consumers pay for a standard basket of goods. Inflation rate in The Gambia increased to 7.34 percent in October from 7.01 percent in September of 2021. While food inflation increased to 8:80 percent and interest rate increased to 10:00 in October 2021, according to the Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS). The Central Bank Governor, Buah Saidy said at a press conference on 8th September 2021 that the main drivers of food inflation were rice, vegetables, oils and fats, sugar, jam, honey and sweets, and other food products. He added that consumer price inflation on food and non-alcoholic beverages accelerated to 11.5% during the review period compared to 5.2% a year ago. Meanwhile, the World Bank also revealed that the headline inflation started increasing in January 2021, driven by food price increases, which is undermining household food security, but said it decelerated slightly to 6.9% y/y in August 2021. Consumers’ complaints Ebrima Mboob, 38, of Manjai and breadwinner of his family said feeding is the most expensive thing in the Gambia, right now. He complained that even D500 is not enough for the daily sustenance of the family (fish money) as a kilo of meat now costs D300. He lamented that all his monthly earnings go into family feeding, while other bills such as school fees, health care, water and electricity are being taken care of by his wife and siblings in Europe. “Even one does multiple jobs; it would be difficult to take care of his family needs alone. You must seek support from other relatives to help solve family needs,” he said. Fatou Jarju, 40, fishmonger at the Wellingara market said addressing the recent rise in the inflation, especially on basic commodities should be the priority of the re-elected president, Adama Barrow. She said the little profit she makes from her business does not benefit her as it all goes into the needs of her family. “It’s been five months now, I have not saved even D100 because from the little daily sales I make, I use that to sustain my family. My husband cannot do it alone. I have to assist him. The bills are also there and they should be settled and none of my children have graduated yet, they are all going to school,” the 40-year-old fishmonger said. A single mother at Sinchu Baliya, Saffiayatou Sanyang, 52, is scared that she might be a street beggar, if the situation remains unchanged. Sanyang, has been a mother of four, and a widow for the past 4 years who lives from hand-to-mouth through laundry service to put food on the table for her 4 children. She said if fish could cost D100 while she goes to market with D150; there is a high tendency that her family would not consume a balanced diet. “The recent increase in inflation should be a concern for everyone, not only the government. D200 of daily fish-money is no longer enough for families because fish alone cost D100 and above; while a cup of vegetable oil costs D25 that was sold for D10. Prices keep increasing and the government is not doing anything,” she decried. Since the change of government in 2017, the country has been experiencing different waves of price hikes as inflation continues to rise. Expert observation Former Accountant General and one-time Finance and Economic Affairs Minister in the Barrow led administration; Amadou Sanneh said the government should encourage many investments by Gambians and improve inflows of the foreign exchange as well as to improve the exchange rate and strengthening of the Dalasi. He said the Dalasi is falling and one has to factor in the valuation of the currency. “Sound macroeconomic management, financial management of the economy will ensure inflation comes down and there will be price stability and the exchange rate needs to be checked,” Sanneh suggested. The Gambia Government in a dispatch dated 23rd March 2020 introduced measures to control prices of essential commodities using the Commodities Emergency Powers Regulations, 2020. The development followed complaints from vendors and consumers about the exorbitant prices of essential commodities, especially basic food items, which sparked panic among buyers in the country. Another former finance minister, Abdou Colley said the inflation rise affects the consumers’ purchasing power and their ability to buy and consume goods; adding that it is also an effect on the rise in price of commodities which affect consumers ability to consume and maintain their pattern, likewise their welfare. “Its number one consequence is a reduction in growth. It slows down growth, meaning if the price of goods is increasing, then the consumption pattern is affected which leads them to reduce the quantities they purchase and this would lead to a slowdown in growth in the economy,” Colley explained. The former finance minister further explained that the rise in inflation also affects international competitiveness. “Gambian goods become relatively more expensive compared to other goods. Whereby Gambia’s ability as a country to export goods to other countries is affected and this reduces the country’s competitiveness. So, inflation affects growth in the economy and the competitiveness of the economy and also consumers’ welfare,” he said. NPP Gov’t Mitigation plan The National People’s Party manifesto states that the NPP Government would encourage and support improved agricultural productivity and livestock production. It explains that agricultural policies would seek to propel production and productivity through mechanisation to boost supplies at local markets for affordability by consumers. The NPP government aims to invest in the private sector to increase the surface of consolidated irrigated land with technological enhancement to the ideals of mechanisation; as well as to work with the private sector and all other interest groups to build storage facilities across the country for both local and industrial farmers to add value to agricultural crops and products such as fruits, vegetables and flours.