By Adama Makasuba
Honorable Halifa Sallah, a veteran politician has urged Gambians to care for the country and be concerned about who they voted for to avoid losing their destiny.
The veteran politician was speaking to reporters shortly after casting his vote on Saturday’s parliamentary election at a Serrekunda polling station.
“If you look at what is happening in Ukraine now, this is what would have happened in The Gambia in 2017 if we didn’t have a peaceful transfer of power. So, Gambians should not take elections lightly. It’s an affirmation of the existence of a nation and its people. You cannot have a nation without citizens and you cannot have a nation when citizens are not conscious of their sovereignty that they own a nation.
“And the only way to demonstrate that you own a nation is to have a say in how that nation is governed. And that’s why there are elections. The National Assembly is not only a legislature but it’s also an instrument of oversight of all the agencies of government. The executive to execute its given resources to provide services. Is not the duty of the National Assembly members to build roads to build bridges,” he said.
“That’s the duty of the executive; it has ministries with technicians, with experts paid from tax payers’ money so that they render all those services to all of us. But it’s the National Assembly now looks at the budget and say how the budget is going to be executed according to budgetary law. But not only that the national assembly members also make the law. But beyond that National Assembly members must also engage in what you call parliamentary diplomacy.
“So, this is not an ordinary election that’s why I came to affirm my citizenship, my ownership of the Gambia and to affirm who I think will be able to carry out with oversight with honesty and commitment. We should care for this nation; we should really be concerned about who we are and we should take ourselves seriously otherwise our destiny is lost,” he added.
