Civil servants in The Gambia may start to reap more benefits for their labour when the development initiatives outlined by a World Bank draft report and a Public Service Reform Sector Strategy Paper are fully recommended and implemented by the government.

The World Bank report, which was evaluated and discussed at a two-day workshop at the Corinthia Atlantic Hotel in Banjul by participants from the public service sector, World Bank, DfID and the UNDP, was undertaken as a study by the World Bank in response to government’s request submitted in January 2007 for a comprehensive capacity assessment in the Public Service Sector, including the pension system.

The report proposes salaries and pension benefits (excluding the 20% salary increase across the board recently authorised by His Excellency the President) to strengthen payroll, establishment control, human resource management and training.

"The purpose of this workshop, in our view, is to critically examine and review the analytic study done by the World Bank/AfDB particularly in the area of Salaries, Allowances and Pension Reform," said the permanent secretary at the Personnel Management Office, Omar G. Sallah, while delivering a statement at the opening ceremony of the workshop on Tuesday.

He said the study should be viewed as a joint one on the basis that most of its "preliminary observations and data are the product of a joint consultations with the Mission [of World Bank] and a Gambian Technical Team" set up for the purpose since 2006.

"The issues highlighted in the data inter alia pointed to deficiencies in government effectives (52% in 2002 to 31% in 2005); quality of service (44% in 2002 to 38% in 2005) and anti-corruption (50% in 2002 to 30% in 2005)," Mr Sallah said.

He added: "The negative trend therefore confirmed the need for a comprehensive reform to enhance efficiency and effective service delivery. It is in this regard, that initiatives were bolstered, through further consultations and workshops for a comprehensive strategy.

"The results of these interventions and consultations were the product of the Public Service Reform Sector Strategy Paper (PSRSSP 2007 – 2011), one of the main components of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSPII 2007 – 2011) submitted to the Bank in January 2007."

PS Sallah further noted that the PSRSSP, which has a total cost package of US$7.5M (excluding salaries, allowances, wages and pensions), focused on four key areas of civil service reform. These, he explained, included improvement of the remuneration package, including Pension Reform to motivate and minimize attrition; strengthening institutional capacity for policy formulation; promotion of ethical values to ensure transparency, accountability and the induction of meritocracy into the service, and development of capacity at the local level for an effective and successful decentralisation of government activities and functions.

The sector strategy, he also said, broadly covers subjects such as Compensation and Benefits, Institutional Capacity Factors, and Governance and Management Factors.

In his keynote address, the Secretary of State for Finance and Economic Affairs, Hon. Mousa Bala Gaye, told participants at the workshop that their main task would be to evaluate and discuss the World Bank study or report and "not to make recommendations.

"Government has to take its time to constitute a taskforce that will review and assess the study in greater detail with a view to making recommendations to the Office of the President which will bring a paper to Cabinet that Cabinet will consider," Hon Bala Gaye told the participants, adding that the Public Service Reform Strategy funded by the UNDP and the civil service reform programme prepared by the World Bank, the African Development Fund and DfID should have been submitted to government since last year.

He explained: "Over the last five years government has been very much concerned with the reform of the civil service. It has taken considerable time to submit these reports to government. We have been working on this. We thought these reports were going to be submitted in June or July of last year.

I wanted the reports to be submitted in November or December last year, it was not possible. The reports are only submitted now."

He said his agreement with the World Bank was to hold two workshops one of which would be to present and explain the civil service programme.  

"I wanted to put this challenge before the workshop. How can we consider, jointly, the UNDP funded civil service reform strategy and also the World Bank-DfiD civil service reform programme study, because I do not want government to be approached with recommendations of the strategy and for decisions to be taken on that in the absence of a consideration of the recommendations of the civil service reform programme study?" he posited, adding:

"Let us try to consider the two documents together and make unified joint recommendations to government on a comprehensive civil service reform programme."

The second issue is on pension, he said. "What we have been seeing is that we have a lot of contributory pension schemes in government which has resulted in very low monthly pensions’ payment for our retired civil servants," the Finance SoS stressed, noting that the "highest monthly pension in this country is about three thousand dalasis a month", while the majority of retired civil servants are receiving less than fifty percent of this amount.

"We have over 800 people having pensions of D 100 and the scale goes on. The people in the D2,000 scale bracket are very few," he said, while noting that the government spent over D200 million in one year in respect of the recent 20% salary increase.

The World Bank Country economist in The Gambia, Mr Hoon Soh, said that although the civil service reform is a difficult and long-term endeavour but the World Bank would continue to support its proper reform process for the benefit of the civil service sector and the Government of The Gambia.

"Civil Service reform has become imperative in The Gambia due to the need to develop an effective and results-oriented civil service to prop the implementation of the country’s development strategy and plans in a sustainable manner," noted the UNDP Resident Representative in The Gambia, Mr Vitalie Muntean, in his remarks on the occasion.

Man owes his claim of supremacy over other members of the living kingdom to his power of imagination. This he translates into action by means of some physical aids.

These take the form of machines and a horde of other forms of equipment. In order to reach this point, however, he required specialized skills that have evolved over time.

In virtually everything we do we employ some form of skills. The first world actually developed through skills training. Advanced countries are in fact advanced only simply because they outshine the rest of the world in the skills they use to put up all the domineering structures that we use today as yardstick in measuring development.

For instance, it took the Wright brothers some form of skills to assemble that historic aircraft that would revolutionize the transport industry generations to come.

Nonetheless, emerging trends show an unequivocal obsession for white-collar jobs. And this weighs down, with catastrophic consequences, our inclinations to skills related professions.

However, all indications are that sight has not been lost of this fact. The government of the Gambia is cognizant of the importance of a skill-based society, which has the potential to ensure uninterruptible supply of our development needs.

There is a great lot to point at in the ever enlivening crusade of uplifting the status of the youth of this country. The establishment of indispensable institutions like the National Youth Council, the National Youth Service Scheme etc, etc, as well as the increasing weight of support being exerted by government towards realizing these goals, by increasing youth representation at all levels of decision making, are all indications of the readiness of the leadership of this country.

First it was the groundbreaking presidential nomination, for the first time in the history of this country, of a youth into the National Assembly. Now we are talking about youth representation at all the local government councils across the country. All this leave the Gambia top in the global level of youth empowerment.

But all these giant efforts will remain insignificant if the youth folk themselves do not take ownership of the institutions being built for them. This is at the center of the message being conveyed by the Honorable SoS responsible for Youth and Sports affairs during the course of his first familiarization tour. SoS Mass Axi Gaye’s tour of institutions under his purview has introduced the accompanying press to what could be described as a potentially promising youth population.

The youth form the core treasure of a nation. An enterprising youth population accelerates its nation’s development processes. On the contrary, a dependent youth population is a burden; it hinders progress, and contributes to the shaping of a failed state. This is surely not what the Gambia wants to settle down for, hence its stance on the development of a skillful youth population.  

A dependable and reliable skill is very important for one’s livelihood. As in the words of the touring SOS: "if you are skilful, you will be self-employed, and the sky will be the limit." It is worth emphasizing as well that there is an enviable chunk of our youth folk that are keen to grab the opportunity being offered by government, but the larger society’s input is also fervently desired.  

If we asked the question: why do we desire imported goods over home made ones, very few people would advance tangible reasons for it. The President’s International Award, for instance, produces high-class household and office furniture that marches, both in quality and in standard, the normally expensive, imported ones that we scramble for.

That self-destructive attitude is another side of our life we ought re-examining. It is high time we realized that for as long as we remain dependent on foreigners for what we consume, we are always at their mercy, even in our own country.

As the University of the Gambia held its fourth convocation ceremony at the Independent Stadium, Bakau, on Saturday, January 26 2008, Society, this week explores the need for its establishment and the impact this revered national institution has so far had in the country.

The government’s desire to bring education to the doorsteps of every Gambian is a humble task, which amplifies the inextricable link between education and the social, political and economic development of any country.

It also epitomizes the fact that for the economic and social winds of change to blow in any country, education must be given an utmost priority. This is more so given the fact that a critical examination of the past history of education in The Gambia shows illiteracy rates at a precarious level. And think about this fact; how could a country with only three secondary schools by 1994, make the necessary headway to achieve its development aspirations?

Furthermore, other factors such as the fact that by 1998, less than 50% of Gambian children attended schools rendered the country’s development aspirations very difficult if not impossible.

And to worsen and compound things, tertiary education was never given the attention and priority it deserved. The Management Development Institute, Gambia College, and Gambia Technical Training Institute were the only institutions with the capacity to train Gambians at tertiary levels. Consequently, a truth became apparent and that is the fact that less than 6% of Gambians received tertiary education. To add dust to an already bleak situation, Gambians who wanted to access university education had to travel abroad to acquire it.

But as is always the case there was hope waiting somewhere. And when everything became nothing, sunshine came in 1994 in the form of the present administration who made it a priority to cleanse past wrongs by improving education in the country. This was done by listing education alongside health and agriculture as top priorities.

Action was, consequently, set in motion to construct schools throughout the length and breadth of the country. This has given Gambians greater opportunities to access quality and relevant education at all levels.

In what would be seen as the most significant effort ever to deliver the ultimate tonic to the nation’s fledging development aspirations, the University of the Gambia was established in March 1999.

It’s establishment epitomised and amplified the popular saying by President Kennedy that the progress of any nation can only be as swift as development in its education sector. Its establishment therefore, has brought to a halt the long, thorny and horny road, which Gambians had to sojourn through in order to become educated. It also handed Gambians the keys to open the doors to the bounties and opportunities that are found in the country.

But establishing the UTG was not always easy. Despite the urgent needs for it, it was not always smooth sailing. Several reasons lend credibility to this, one of which was the fact that some people decided to give it all the hallmarks and attributes of impossibility. But as usual, there is no going back and it would go ahead anyway to prove them wrong in the end.

So with support from the Ministry of Health of Cuba it kicked-off and in March 1999 the Medical School started operations marking the first university education in the country. The establishment of the Medical School was succeeded by the establishment of many other departments in the university including the Social Sciences, Humanities, Economics and Management Sciences, Public and Environmental Health and Science and Technology.

Since its establishment over 600 students have graduated from this noble institution. Among the many luminaries are great men and women who occupy important positions in the country, whilst a considerable number are also currently pursuing their masters and doctorate degrees.

As a sign of its growing strength, the UTG currently has about 2000 students. This comprises a mixture of nationalities including American’s, Nigerians, Cameroonians, Liberians, and Senegalese.

It might have taken several decades to establish it, but the UTG has already started registering its mark in the development landscape of the country.  Even though the road is still narrow and long, there is no going back. And as noted by a recent Daily Observer editorial: "Efforts for the realization of maximum benefits from UTG calls for a focused nationalist approach.

And this must be embedded in the foundation we are now putting together, a foundation that will shape the long term outlook of the institution, and, to quiet a great extent, determine the kind of professionals the institution provides in the long term and future of our Gambia." This is the future for the UTG and the Gambia at large. So lets march on.

Elections in the US are gaining momentum as the day, dubbed the Super Tuesday, which is awaited by every politically conscious US citizen, comes ever closer.

The battle for the ‘Almighty White House’ seems to be more between the Democrats than the Republicans, or at least so we are made to believe.

This is because the Democratic party has on offer two very controversial choices; a black man and a woman presidential aspirants. In any case, if what we get from the press all over the US is anything to go by, then America is set to make history.

Hundreds of kilometres away, across the Atlantic Ocean, post-election turmoil grows as the turbulence continues to spread in Kenya.

These two countries share something striking about them these days: Barak Obama of the US Demoratic party and Raila Odinga of the ODM. The issue is not just because these two are  black, but also because they share blood, and, most importantly, they both stand to make a record in the political terrain of their respective counries.

In Kenya, Obama’s paternal cousin, Raila Odinga, is battling it out for Kenya’s equivalent of the White House. But there is more to  that quest for political power; there has been this talk of an ingrained tribal stunt that dominates his Kenya, a fact that is responsible for his seemingly unsurpassable drive to put a stop to it. Unlike his Illinois senator cousin, Mr Odinga is finding his way through rough terrains, but with a rather genuine complaint which, we must emphasise, is by no means a warrant for the bloodletting spree. Mr Odinga is at the service of his Luo tribe against the Kikuyu tribe that, like the Anglo-Saxon tribe in America, has dominated Kenyan politics since independence.

Over two hundred years of US independence has seen only the Anglo-Saxon tribe occupying the White House. Like his Luo kinsman, this is what Mr Obama Jr, the son of Barak Hussain Obama Snr is seeking to put a stop to.

While it takes the likes of all the big names in Africa to calm down the already boiling situation in Kenya, by either bringing Kibaki to his lost senses or miraculously convincing Odinga to dispose of his obssessive taste for power, it would take the judgmental, powerfully placed western media establishment to put a stop to the ‘deluded’ black man intent on breaking what would certainly have been a taboo to the founding fathers of modern America; but the legendary Martin Luther King Junior will surely have approved of it. He probably would say: ‘But I dreamt it, didn’t I?’

Already CNN has gone beyond limit in portraying Obama as the  intruding African in the American political scene. America was shown pictures of Obama’s Kenyan grandmother as well as Obama Senior’s grave in the heart of that Obama estate, with a photo of Obama the US senator on the wall.

All this is unmistakably a clear message to the racially charged US voters that ‘open your eyes’, this man is not one of us, not Anglo-Saxon.

As part of activities marking their 20th annivasary, the Insurance Association of The Gambia, on Saturday, December 15, awarded three media houses namely the  Daily Observer Newspaper, The Point and The Gambia Radio and Television Services in recognition of their valuable support towards the growth and development of the association over the past years. The colourful award dinner was held at the Paradise Suites Hotel, Kololi.

The association also awarded key institutions such as the Central Bank of The Gambia, Gambia Police Force and the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Other awardees included veteran insurers such as Omar Dibba, Alhagie Baboucarr Ceesay and Momodou Momar Taal, founding fathers of the association.

Speaking at the ceremony, Ms Senor Thomas, President of the Insurance Association of the Gambia, said her association deemed it necessary to recognise the immense contribution of the awarders to the success of her association over the past years noting that without their support, it would have been difficult to achieve the success registered by the association. Among the major developments registered, she went on, include their establishment of a general secretariat which she said is now overseeing the activities of the association.

“We also have a membership of eight insurance companies in The Gambia compared to few years back when the association registered only three companies,” she said. She noted that despite all these achievements, more concerted efforts are still needed in a bid to make the association more vibrant as well as to achieve their collective objectives.

Madam Thomas used the occassion to call on other insurance companies to register with the assocoation which serves as an umbrella body for all the insurance companies in the country.

For his part, Henry Jaw, executive secretary of the association, lauded the leadership qualities demostrated by the president, noting that the ceremony was entirely sponsored by the president through the International Insurance Company.

He also commended the three founding fathers for the formation of the association in 1987.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Omar Dibba, founding member of the association, commended the association for the initiative, adding that this will go a long way in further cementing the existing cordial relationships between the association and the awardees.

He acknowledged the remarkable improvement of the association in recent years. Dibba called on  stakeholders to continue helping the association