Who Am I?

Hello world I am the Gambian economy. I am neither stupid nor retarded. I am in need of a jolt/shock of good macroeconomic dose and  some political confidence to get my wheels in motion. My consumer and investor expectations are waiting for that policy signal/direction from the exchequer and the Gambian in Chief.

I have been prostituted and decimated to tatters and I am in an urgent need of CPR for my resurrection and revitalization of my life line. My engine has been on full throttle since January 2017 but my wheels are locked and in need of good lubrication to get me in motion.

High ticket items on my bucket list to kick start the economy are Tax reform, fiscal consolidation, deeper monetary management and intermediation, Tourism, Agriculture and infrastructural reforms. These reforms need a face to articulate and champion their rationale. Who better to drive this process than our citizen in Chief. I am issuing a distress call on behalf of the sectors and the beloved people of the Gambia who rely on me for their daily bread. The energy deficiency also needs urgent attention on both the generation and transmission aspect of the business if my performance has to be stellar. All of these goodies once addressed will not  take Gambia far without a cultural reorientation and a resolute governance mechanism that promotes accountability and probity. Mr Gambian in Chief, our country is still at the crossroads of making history or returning to the dark days of stale growth and retardation. The choice of our trajectory is a collective endeavour  but it requires decisive leadership who treats me as a commonwealth not a fiefdom for wheeling and dealing. Nepotism and corruption have no place in our quest to start a fresh. Better late than never and a great good morning from the smiling coast that frowned for over 22 years. My love for you to excell must override the  narrowly defined personal interest and ambitions of my market participants and policy architects.

For the Gambia, I remain ever true as her diverse people's are yearning for better and brighter days to curb the malaise of the back way, Tribalism, Nepotism and above all Civic Apathy. My Gambia will prosper cos no obstacle will be a permanent fixture on my path as I strive to build a prosperous nation.  

What Next After A Great Speech at the UNITED General Assembly?

The dust has settled after a resounding acceptance of President Barrow's debut address at the Unites Nation General Assembly by Gambians the world over.

President Barrow made pledges, pronouncements and declarations that are noble and worthy of execution. How ever, they still remain mere words until they are transformed into concrete actions. The transformative process will only come to fruition when the president constitute an adhoc Monitoring and Evaluation outfit to ensure that his pronouncements come to light. I do believe that he brings forth glad tidings and genuine intent to do good but by virtue of his limited bureaucratic and administrative exposure, he is at the mercy of ministers who are too occupied jet setting rather than fulfilling the policy aspirations of the president. The speech had a multi sectoral dimension and that warrants a focal body to ensure its execution. The primary role of Government Ministers are to diligently execute and champion government policy. The delegation of responsibilities will reduce the incidence of the frequent travelling of our Senior Government officials. Yes they do have international obligations but their primary obligation is to effectively serve the people of the Gambia in situ. Take for instance the Ministry of Trade with the most sensitive portfolio in the country (unemployment). The custodian of that Ministry is yet to have a summit or a forum to chart a way forward as it relates to the malaise of unemployment. Governance is interactive and to date most of the custodians of our vital sectors are yet to engage the polity. I also expect the Minister of Education to engage the polity on how to over turn the appalling failing grades of our school going children. Gambia is in a crisis as it relates to education, health, the economy and unemployment and the respective custodians of these sectors are yet to communicate with the polity. The new approach to public management is participatory and bottom up. Mr. President with all due respect and humility, I implore in your good office to activate a participatory approach to governance by decentralising your scheduled cabinet meetings to the administrative regions of the country thereby feeling the pulse of the Gambian. We have devised a #BarrowMeter and don't be shocked when we start giving you the readings. Finally, the role of the Ambassadors at Large must be clearly defined in order to avert the duplication of efforts and redundancy of our permanent secretaries. Ambassador at Large are mere salesmen and once they make a successful pitch it is the role of the relevant sector specialist to consolidate and finalise the transaction. The presence of this new nomenclature in our bureaucratic dispensation has created a blurred line that breeds encroachment. Time for a serious rethink as Gambia is not a pie to shared but a going concern for the benefit of the greater good.

For the Gambia, I remain ever true.

Nyang Njie

Have Gambian Civil Servants ceased being servants of the State?

To date, I am yet to make an utterance about the ongoing commission of inquiry looking into Jammeh. I will not delve into the substance of the inquiry but I will discuss the frivolous nature of public servants as per their relationship with the former president. Two things could have been responsible for the malfeasance perpetrated by senior government officials against the state's interest;
1. Lack of proper induction into the civil service and a good comprehension of the General Orders of the civil service  (G.O.)

2. The naked ambition of many Gambians To prosper and flourish at all cost.

There is a stark difference between the presidency and office of the president. The president is not at liberty to order or command any civil servant direct as all civil servants work on the Secretary General who is the head of the civil service. All orders directly from the president without the consent of the Secretary General to any civil servant are ultra vires and contravenes the spirit of the General Orders. Therefore for any Civil Servant to hide behind the notion that I was powerless shows their incompetence or lack thereof professionalism.

As per the Central Bank, the Governor being the chief executive of the Bank backed by an act of parliament by way of legislation has independence and autonomy from the interference of any public official. Therefore any decision taken by the Governor must solely and wholly be his responsibility as he was legally insulated from encroachment but chose to otherwise collude with the banditory of a rogue president. Ignorance is not an excuse in law and culpability must be measured and apportioned appropriately. Justice is always blind and therefore the whimps and caprices of a rogue president MUST NOT STOP anyone from executing his/ her duties diligently. Most senior officials have taken an oath of office and their actions contravenes that oath. The General Orders also States that public officials who are under investigation must be placed on administrative leave and paid half salary pending the outcome of such an investigation/commission. I am baffled by protracted employment without suspension of some government officials at the epicentre of this commission. A government must have systems and systems are rule based. Just my take on the ongoing commission without delving into the substantive issues of the inquiry.

For the Gambia, I remain ever true.

Nyang Njie

United Nation General Assembly Speech of the President of the Republic of the Gambia

President Barrow made a monumental and historic delivery at the Chambers of the General Assembly in Manhattan today. His speech was historic as it marks the first democratic representation in over two decades despite the sleezy elections we hosted in the past.

The coming of age of the man we come to know as president Barrow is imminent and irreversible. His delivery underscored critical national, regional, continental and global issues of concerns with a moral appeal to humanity to take care of the meek and pay due consideration to the environment. The age old Palestinian conflict was highlighted with a dignified position of a two state solution and right of self determination of the Palestinian people.

On the home front, the  president highlighted the issue of fiscal consolidation, security sector reforms, public institutional reforms and legal reforms to back the transitional justice that is ongoing. He made an emphatic and explicit statement about the Senegalo-Gambia relationship as it relates to the geopolitics of our neck of the woods. He elaborated on the National Development Plan and the upcoming Donor Round Table Conference for resource mobilisation. The issue of climate change, youth unemployment and Back way journey of Gambian youths were brought to the epicentre of his exposé. Access to portable water and the financing of public infrastructural projects such as roads were hitherto mentioned by President Barrow.

President Barrow supported the African Union position on the institutional reforms of the United Nation with specific emphasis on the reorganisation of the Security Counsel to further consolidate democracy and better global governance of the August body.

I endorse the speech in its entirety and now urge our distinguished president to not only jealously spearhead the requisite reforms needed in the realisation of his plans but the appointment of first class Gambians to bear fruition to his illustrious plans. Great job Mr. President and your leadership skills will now be put to test as you tacitly execute and rollout the plans associated with your speech. #NewGambia can transcend from mere rhetoric to substantive proposition if all hands are on deck with a systemic approach to the transformative process of rebuild a modern nation state backed by justice and equity for all.  God bless the Republic of the Gambia and her diverse people's. For the Gambia,  I remain ever true.

Nyang Njie

Letter to His Excellency President Adama Barrow

Dear Government of the Gambia under the stewardship of His Excellency Alhaji Adama Barrow,

We the concerned people of the Republic of the Gambia have keenly watched the birth of the #NewGambia. Kindly note that our observations are are neither criticisms of your administration nor intended to harangue you. Gambians have excercised patience with your administration hoping that the ball will be set in motion for the transformation needed to build the new Gambia. Civil Service Reform is a sine qua non in the rebuilding of our dear nation. The Jammeh administration assisted in the degradation of our civil service and  I  will opine without prejudice that the current Secretary General lack the knowithall to spearhead the requisite change needed to usher in a functional public administration machinery. I therefore implore in your good office to revisit his employment as SG for the interest of the nation we all love. Gambia is not a social experiment that rely on trial and error for its progress. The civil service is marked by incompetence, apathy and lack of direction. These malaise need to be urgently addressed. The security sector needs re-education/reorientation and this excercise must be commissioned immediately.
Gambians expect a lot from this administration and rightly so. The legal and institutional reforms can't be underscored. Investments especially foreign direct investments are the cornerstone of any meaningful development plan and to date we haven't seen any serious investment advocate/champion in the forefront of our development strides. Mr President, I want to remind you without ill will that the toolkit that ushered in freedom will not surely be the same that will usher in economic prosperity. Therefore, your government must be cognizant of the skill set that will usher prosperity and employ people with that skill set to bring about meaningful change to the people of this great country. I am sure you are not aware of the fact that your cabinet is not equipped with an economist. This in my view is a great misnomer as Gambia is classified as a third world nation with great ambitions to transform the livelihood of the citizenry. This cannot happen without great economic plans, modelling and execution of programmes. I therefore urge your good office to reconsider having an economic mind at the nerve centre of the economy (Ministry of Finance). Equally, trade and employment are key drivers of our economy and these sectors need specialists at the driver's seat not freedom fighters. Gambia is yearning for real change and real change is blind to tribal affiliation, patronage, cronyism and politics. On the issue of the appointment of a vice president, I am of the view that it is your prerogative to choose as you see fit but you have to be decisive in action. Gambia can't afford to wait whilst you cosy up with your decision. Urgent action is required. The cars that were donated to our MPs was not in line with what our budding democracy expects from your leadership. We want to and we have a right to know where those vehicles came from. Secondly it is not prudent to have such a fleet injected in our fiscal dispensation with sound financial planning. Government needs visibility in resource mobilisation and disbursement. I fault you for keeping us in the dark. As per the ravaging floods that plagued the town of Kuntaur, I do hope that the government has learned and comprehend the definition of #RAPID_RESPONSE. In disaster management, time is neither a luxury nor a cushion.

Your Excellency, in consideration of the aforementioned mentioned issues, I do hope you will act and act expeditiously in the best interest of the state as duty and honour to country are sacrosanct virtues of patriotism. Gambia is not a cake that should be shared amongst power players and pushers of yester years. Gambia is sober but thirsty for much needed impetus for reform and prosperity. You emerging as the winner of the last December polls was not accidental but a deliberate will of the people to effect change. Most didnt vote for you but rather voted for change. Gambians want home grown solutions for home grown problems. The more your administration shun the Gambian intelligentsia, the more you will be on a collusion course with chance and exploitation of the novice and neophytes. Finally, I want to remind you of two names that are becoming synonymous with the sideling of our intelligentsia. #Richard_Uku and #Moubarack_Lô. The former is your communication strategist and the latter  visited your office and even conducted  training on how to manage the Gambian Economy. Mr. President, once again, I want to register my dissatisfaction with such decisions as it is an affront to our national pride and dignity. Our country prides itself with world class professionals who can be the impetus for the much needed change we all want. It is UnGambian not to prioritise our nationals especially if they have the requisite tool kit to effect change. Lets have a rethink about our strategic objectives and put Gambia first.

Please accept my concerns with my highest consideration and esteem albeit that I am part of "we the people" and we the people are the underwriters of the change that brough about your presidency.  Gambians deserve a lot from our political class because we bank our hopes and dreams on your promises. Please we don't want to walk in the halls of development to cash in our cheque only to be told that we have insufficient funds. That will be a travesty and the likes of #SoloSandeng will roll in their graves saying thats not what I sacrificed for. We the people bargained for a brighter future backed by an equitable system with a just social contract.

For the Gambia, I remain ever true.

Prepared & written by;
Nyang Njie
Knowledge Bank Consortium GM 

www.nyangnjie.blogspot.com