nationalassembly

Unemployment: A pillar for youth votes in parliamentary, local gov’t elections

  • by Sanna Jallow
  • January 13, 2022

  Following the presidential election in December, Gambian voters are all set to make another important decision as they prepare to vote in the upcoming parliamentary election in April and the local government election next year. On top of the agenda, especially for young Gambians, is the high unemployment rate, which forced many into criminal activities as well as endangering their lives on a perilous journey to Europe, using the backway in search of greener pastures.    According to the 2018 Labour Force Survey conducted by the Gambia Bureau of Statistics’ (GBoS), the youth unemployment rate has increased to 41.5%.   A 20-year-old, Nfamara Jammeh, a native of Banjul said they would vote for the candidate who will advocate youth employment during the parliamentary election so that the current government will find a solution to solve the youth unemployment in the country in 2022.    The consequence of youth unemployment has been tipped to be the cause of the rising violent crime, armed robbery, theft, and prostitution in the country.   Jammeh added when the unemployment rate is high in a country, it would cause crimes such as theft, robbery, and certain immoral behaviours in the society.   Jammeh urged the government to ensure that the rate of unemployment is reduced by allowing investors to create more job opportunities for the young people of this country.   He stressed that it is frustrating for youngsters to complete more than a decade of expensive education and suffer afterward without jobs.   According to the national employment policy and action plan 2022 to 2030, glaring employment deficits both in terms of levels and quality highlight the need for comprehensive national employment policies that provide a clear framework for addressing working poverty, creating jobs, increasing earnings of male and female employees and decreasing youth unemployment and discouragement.   Another youth, Lamin Fofana, a 20-year-old who lives in Abuko, said lack of employment is affecting him as job opportunities are rarely available causing his frustration.   “We are the youth, and we need jobs to earn a living. We are tired of depending on our parents for a living,” he lamented.   He said lack of employment has pushed him away from his community stigmatisation that he lacks ambition since he had completed secondary school education.   In terms of voting, Fofana decided that he will vote for a parliamentary candidate who is committed to supporting policies that would reduce unemployment among youth.   According to the GBoS Labour Force Survey, among the working-age population, 14.9 percent are economically active while 85 percent are usually economically inactive. And for those who were outside the labour force, 39.8 percent are between the ages 15 to 24 and 31 percent are of the ages 36-64 while 29 percent are between 25-35 years.   Mamadou Jallow, a 25-year-old who lives in Wellingara in the West Coast Region, said he will only vote for candidates who will advocate for youth empowerment during the parliamentary and local government election in 2023.   He believed the local government should play a key role by rightfully implementing the taxes paid to the area councils in which 60 percent is mandated to be ploughed back to taxpayers through development.   “Community development can create job opportunities for the youth so during the parliamentary election, I will vote for the one (candidate) who will advocate for the creation of jobs in my community because it will help to reduce the unemployment rate among youth,'' he said.   Electoral officer verifying details of a voter queuing to vote in Gambia’s local government election on 12th April in 2018 (Photo: Mustapha Ceesay) Alpha Dem, 23, a resident of Old Yundum, said: “We need candidates who will transform [local government] economies and the infrastructure which will improve our opportunity to acquire jobs and reduce the involvement of youth in criminal activities.”   A senior media assistant at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Sulayman Ceesay, said the factors responsible for youth unemployment in the Gambia are the quality and relevance of the education system, inflexible labour market, and regulation that in turn create a situation of dependency.   “The inadequate skills, lack of experience and a mismatch between education and training and requisite job skills with low space job creations combined with the lack of big industries and the low investment in Agriculture in the Gambia are direct factors creating challenges for youth unemployment in the country,” he said.  Ceesay said the Government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports is very much committed to the development, empowerment, and employability of young people as their priority.     The ministry recently launched the youth revolving funds to support young people who are into entrepreneurship in order to improve or expand young people's businesses, he said.   Lamin Darboe, the former Director of the National Youth Council, recommended the need for economic transformation that will see the creation of a production-based economy that would give young people work in the manufacturing industries as well as in the production value chain.   “There is a mismatch between our education and the needs of the economy,” he said, reiterating Ceesay’s point. “We are not providing our youth with the required technical skills in engineering and entrepreneurship to ease their employability.''    According to him, millions are invested in the construction of roads and bridges but the funds go to foreign companies to deliver those services. He said that some job preferences have some socio-cultural stigma and stereotypes around some job functions, which makes the youth not opt for such kinds of work.   “The solution to youth unemployment which will also lead to a reduction of crime rate is to adjust the economic system from tax-based to manufacturing and production. Adjust the curricula to suit the labour demands of the economy and standardisation of the employment landscape in the Gambia,” he stated.   The ruling party’s manifesto promises the prioritization of employment creation to graduates and skills persons. It stated that more skills training acquisition will be supported while the government will create industries to absorb job seekers to enhance a robust Public-Private-Partnership to support development agenda.       

nationalassembly

Transportation constraint tops voters’ agenda ahead of parliamentary election

  • by Yusupha Jobe
  • March 15, 2022

Gambians are preparing for the National Assembly election scheduled on 9 April 2022, which will see them vote to elect a new batch of legislators to represent them in the House until 2027.   In The Gambia, transportation is one of the biggest challenges for many people, especially those living in the urban area and commute to and from work or school on a daily basis.   The daily commuting is increasingly becoming a misery for many commuters because there are always traffic jams on the roads; especially during rush hours. The situation increases daily and now becomes a nightmare for many.   Barely less than a month to the 9th April parliamentary election, voters outlined their priorities that would influence their decision to vote for a candidate, come the day.   Many voters have already decided to vote for candidates who would be their voice in the parliament and advocate solutions to their problems, one of which is to ease the current transportation challenge they grappled with.   Worry of voters Abdoulie Sanneh, a student and a resident of Brikama who travels to school in Sere Kunda daily is eligible to vote in the 9th April election. Many issues would influence his choice of candidate, but key among them is better transportation system.    He would vote for that candidate who would present to the executive for urgent attention, his problems including the transportation constraint he faces now.   “Yes I will be voting in the parliamentary elections and transportation should be on top of the agenda for any candidate who wants to earn my vote,” the student expressed.   Like many others, Abdoulie acknowledged that the current transportation constraint needs urgent attention; and said parliamentarians as people’s representatives should be pushing at the National Assembly issues affecting their electorates.   “They will be our representatives at the decision-making body of the Nation. So issues affecting us are what they should be tabling there (Parliament). Transportation is a misery and the incoming National Assembly should take it seriously," he suggested.   Another Student, Lamin Jassey at the Management Development Institute (MDI) in Kanifing, commutes to school from Brikama every day.   Like his colleague, Lamin agreed that the difficulty in transportation should be every voter's concern and any politician whose agenda does not cover that should not be considered.   “For me, any candidate who does not have any plans to put forward the transportation problems to the executive for it to be addressed is not worthy to have my vote,” he said.     Jassey urged the rest of the electorates to vote wisely by voting for competent candidates who would stand for the interest of their people at the National Assembly.   Baboucarr Joof, Sinchu Baliya goes to work in Banjul, but getting to and from work in the morning and in the evening is always a nightmare.   He called his vote, his voice and would cast it for a candidate who will stand for his interest at the National Assembly to get the transportation problem immediately addressed.   “The executive cannot spend money without approval from the National Assembly. Therefore, if the executive brought a budget, the NAMs could cut from other areas of less importance and allocate it to the Ministry of transport to build roads. If more roads are built, it will help ease the transportation difficulties,” he noted.   The Sinchu Baliya resident assured that candidates eyeing the Old Yundum constituency seat who wants his vote should be ready to pioneer fixing the transportation constraint at the National Assembly, when elected. Polling staff verifying details of a voter Efforts by Transport Union    Omar Ceesay, President, Gambia Transport Union said the lack of good roads in the Gambia is a big factor in the transport difficulty, and added that the government should build more linking roads to ease the pressure on the highways.   "I think the government should work on more feeder roads. They should collaborate with the councils and municipalities to construct more feeder roads. So that if we have more feeder roads, the main roads will not be congested," he noted.   Ceesay informed that his union is working with the government to introduce a new system called road permitting or road licensing to curb the transportation constraint.   The new system, he added, would establish picking points and designate destinations for vehicles; saying ‘this would ease the many challenges commuters face daily’.   Commitment by candidate Abdoulie Ceesay was the MP for the Old Yundum Constituency whose tenure just ended. He is seeking re-election under the National People's Party ticket.   He acknowledged that transportation is a problem affecting many people; and recalled advocating it among other issues affecting his people, during his just ended tenure.   "I think the focus should be adding more buses for GTSC and changing the company from a private one and placing it under a ministry that will be responsible for it," he suggested a solution.    Ceesay promised to continue advocating issues affecting his people at the National Assembly including the transport challenge, if re-elected.   Meanwhile, in recent years, The Gambia’s population has increased significantly hitting close to two million people, according to the 2013 Gambia Bureau of Statistics population census. This means that there is an increased number of commuters plying the road. As such, there is also an increase in the number of vehicles plying the roads compared to a few years ago.   This leads to traffic congestion which causes delay to many commuters in reaching their desired destination on time. Many times, commuters would spend a long time hustling for a vehicle for hours, to commute to and from work or home.   Now that the country braces electing representatives in the 58-member National Assembly; 53 of whom are elected by electorates in the 53 constituencies across the country; and 5 are nominated by the President as per the the 1997 Constitution, voters decided to vote in representatives who would advocate rapid solutions to their problems, mainly transportation.