OK so now that he's done this, now that he has control over the local
government councils, does this mean all of the government is pretty
much in his hands now!  If that is the case (and let me know if it's
wrong), then what is the use of the opposition participating in the
local government elections, especially if they are probably going to
be rigged anyway?

This is all just too sad!  And that is a huge understatement!  he's
trying to consolidate as much power as he can, and people just seem to
be letting him get away with it!


But anyway, I'm going to stop for now!

Ginny




On 11/1/07, bailo jallow <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Bro,
>
>   The latest power grab by the President just confirms to all right-thinking
> Gambians that the forthcoming local council elections are simply pointless
> and a waste of time and other scarce national resources. The recent
> acquittal of the honest, hardworking development-oriented former mayor of
> Banjul, Pa Sallah Jeng shows that any elected local government official who
> fails to become a praise-singer of Yahya Jammeh would sooner or later be
> unconstitutionally removed from Office. Ooops! I nearly forgot to mention
> that such removals have henceforth been constitionalised through an act of
> the National Assembly.
>
>   A pathetic state of affairs indeed!
>
>   Bailo
>
> Malanding Jaiteh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>   As they say in Mandinka- now that the President has in his custody of
> both the knife and the meat, he can indulge in whichever part he choses!
> Lets wish him bon apetit!
>
> Courtesy of the Daily Observer.
>
>
> President given executive power over Councils
>
> Africa » Gambia
>
> Thursday, November 01, 2007
>
> It has finally been considered and approved for the President of the
> Republic of The Gambia to take over the affairs of all Area Councils and
> Municipalities, with effect from November 1, 2007.
>
> This was considered and approved by NAMs yesterday, at an Extra-ordinary
> session of the National Assembly in the 2007 Legislative Year.
>
> Presenting the motion for approval, Ismaila Sambou, Secretary of State
> for Local Government, Lands and Religious Affairs, said Section 152 of
> the Local Government Act 2002, provides that the President may with the
> approval of a simple majority of the votes of all members of the
> National Assembly, assume the executive powers of any Local Government
> Area, in circumstance where the Council so request and it is in the
> public interest to do so and where it has become extremely difficult or
> impossible for a Council to function.
>
> According to SoS Sambou, there has been constant power conflict between
> the Office of the Regional Governors and the office of the Chairman of
> Area Councils, the latter claiming being elected by universal adult
> suffrage of all eligible voters in the Local Government Area, thus
> creating functional difficulties.
>
> "This power struggle in many instances do not yield positive impact. As
> a result, this constitutional provision has recently been amended to
> pave the way for the amendment of Section 13(1) of the Local Government
> Act 2002, among other things. For a good transition and to achieve the
> desired results, therefore, it will be desirable for the President to
> take over the administration of Local Government Councils for them to be
> well-prepared for the forthcoming Council Elections," he said.
>
> He added that there has been a series of complaints from the general
> public and other stakeholders in Local Government Administration about
> the poor performance of the Local Area Councils, which in some cases led
> to public outcry and great confusion. It is for such reasons, according
> to him, that, the Department of State for Local Government and Lands
> had to come up with a press release in 2006 to reduce rates across the
> country. "Also, because of the unsatisfactory method of car park fees
> collection by Councils, the Department of State in collaboration with
> the Department of State for Finance and Economic Affairs and the
> Interior had to shift the collection of car park fees from Councils to
> The Gambia Police Force," he noted.
>
> SoS Sambou then noted that, these and many other cases are result of
> both financial and administrative malfunctions, leading to
> unsatisfactory performances by all Councils. He added that to arrest
> this undesirable situation and considering that Local Government
> Elections are scheduled for January 2008, the need to better prepare new
> Councils to take up their financial and administrative responsibilities
> as expected by the citizens they are supposed to serve, cannot be
> over-emphasised.
>
> He then observed that in the light of the above and under the present
> circumstances, it is only proper for the President to invoke Section
> 152(1)(b) of the Local Government Act 2002 to remedy the current
> situation and prepare good grounds for a more vibrant and
> result-oriented Local Government Councils in The Gambia to achieve the
> aspirations of the MDGs and our Decentralisation and Good Governance
> Strategies.
>
> Supporting the motion, Hon.Netty Baldeh, NAM for Tumana, said the motion
> is timely for the fact that the Local Government elections are just in
> the pipeline. He said this will help to create a level playing ground
> field for all participants and also indicates government's commitment to
> ensure a fair play in the election process.
>
> He urged the NAMs to ratify the motion so that the President of the
> Republic of The Gambia can take actions to remedy the current poor
> situations of Councils and Municipalities.
>
> Hon. Sellu Bah, NAM for Basse, also supported the motion for the
> President to take over the affairs of the Councils and Municipalities.
> He urged for the proper scrutiny of the administrative actions of the
> Councils and Municipalities.
>
> Hon. Sedia Jatta, NAM for Wuli West urged the authorities to create an
> interim management structures to run Councils until the election are over.
>
> by Alhagie Jobe
>
>
> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface
> at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
>
> To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to:
> http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
> To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
> [log in to unmask]
> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
>  For ideas on reducing your carbon footprint visit Yahoo! For Good this
> month.
>
> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface
> at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
>
> To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to:
> http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
> To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
> [log in to unmask]
> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
>


-- 
Visit my blog at:  http://www.ginnysthoughts.com

If you want to V-Me (call me) click here:
https://v-me.vonage.com/quickgm32

If you are a Vonage customer you can set up your V-Me service by clicking here:
https://v-me.vonage.com/

Powered by VONAGE
www.vonage.com

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤