By Yankuba Jallow
Honourable Yaya Gassama, the National Assembly Member for Kiang East warned that The Gambia’s growing debt burden is limiting government spending on education, healthcare, and agriculture, and called for better debt management and greater support for farmers.
Speaking during the National Assembly’s debate on the national budget, the lawmaker said the country has struggled with indebtedness since 2017, with a large share of government revenue going to debt repayments instead of essential public services.
“From 2017 up to now, it has been the same problem, and that is indebtedness,” he said.
“Apparently, this government is kicking its debt can, hoping that somebody will pick it up. And each time the debt can land, more debts are added into the can. Nobody knows when this malaise is going to end.”
Hon. Gassama described the country’s debt burden as a serious obstacle to development, warning that the money used to repay loans was reducing the resources available for services that directly affect the lives of ordinary Gambians.
“The more we spend on debt repayments, the less we have to spend on education, to spend on health, to spend on agriculture. And these are areas that impact the daily lives of the people,” he said.
“No wonder people are suffering.”
The Kiang East lawmaker also questioned the absence of most Cabinet members during the budget debate, describing the budget as one of the country’s most important documents because it determines how public money is allocated across government departments.
He began by thanking the Minister of Finance for presenting the budget on time, as well as the minister representing him at the sitting. However, he expressed concern that almost the entire Cabinet was missing from the session.
“We often say that apart from the Constitution, the budget is the most important document. And today here we are discussing the budget, discussing the lifeblood of the country, discussing documents that appropriates payers’ money to different ministries so that they can make impactful, so that they can make impact on the lives of Gambians,” he said.
He questioned why ministers responsible for implementing government policies were not present to participate in the debate.
“Those people who are responsible for those government policies are not here. They are not even represented by permanent secretaries because I can see only a few of them here. I think the Assembly needs to take that seriously,” he said.
Turning to education and healthcare, the lawmaker said the effects of limited public spending could be seen in schools, hospitals and universities.
He referred to complaints about university students being unable to attend lectures on time because courses were unavailable, questioning how institutions could deliver their services when funding was insufficient.
“One of the Honourable Members here complained about university students not being able to go to class on time because they do not have courses. What do we expect?” he asked.
“Money that should have been appropriated to enable students to attend lectures on time, if those monies are spent on debt repayment, where do we go?”
He also raised concerns about conditions at Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul, saying patients could be found lying on the floor.
“When you go to the Edward Francis Teaching Hospital in Banjul, you always find patients lying on the floor,” he said.
The lawmaker further criticised the state of school infrastructure, questioning the government’s reliance on external support to provide classrooms and other educational facilities.
“If you go to our schools, the structures are dilapidated,” he said.
He praised the MRC Holland Foundation for its contribution to education infrastructure, while questioning what the country’s schools would look like without the organisation’s support.
“And thanks to the MRC Holland Foundation, I’m wondering if the MRC Holland Foundation does not exist in The Gambia, I’m wondering how the education infrastructure is going to look like in this country,” he said.
“The government is not building any structures. Everything is coming from them.”
He questioned whether the country was doing enough to provide children with suitable places to learn.
“Are we telling the people that we cannot educate our own children, we cannot provide suitable infrastructure for our children to study?” he asked.
The lawmaker also linked poor learning conditions to concerns about examination results, arguing that teachers needed better salaries and working conditions to perform effectively in the classroom.
“Every year when the examination results are out, we always complain about bad results. But how do we expect teachers to deliver results when they are not comfortable?” he said.
“Teachers are frustrated, they don’t have good salaries, their working conditions are so bad that they cannot produce their best in the classrooms. So no wonder we are not producing the results.”
He called for more responsible debt management and greater investment in sectors that directly affect people’s lives.
“If we are serious about all these things, we need to manage our debts properly, invest in the right sectors and get the country moving,” he said.
The Kiang East lawmaker also called for greater government support for agriculture, saying farmers needed adequate resources to produce enough food for the country.
He reminded the Assembly that many of the people represented by lawmakers depended on farming for their livelihoods.
“In agriculture, all of us, almost all of us here are representing people who are out in the fields, toiling 24-7 every day. These people really matter to us,” he said.
He argued that achieving food self-sufficiency would depend largely on the support provided to farmers, particularly access to fertilisers, farming tools and other essential resources.
“If they really matter to the government, I think the farmers need to be considered very seriously,” he said.
“If you want to ensure food self-sufficiency, it is going to be in the farms. It is our farmers who are responsible for producing our food.”
He warned that farmers would struggle to increase production if they lacked the equipment and supplies needed to work their fields.
“If they do not have the right resources to work with, if they do not have adequate fertilisers, if they don’t have adequate farming tools, what is going to happen?” he asked.
The lawmaker said farmers faced further difficulties at the end of the growing season when they tried to sell their crops, adding to the challenges of producing enough food locally.
He linked these problems to the country’s dependence on imported food and the rising cost of living, saying many households were struggling to afford basic necessities.
“No wonder most of our foods are imported,” he said.
“The price of imported food keeps increasing on a daily basis. Go to the markets. People are frustrated. The cost of living is rising on a daily basis.”
He said incomes were not keeping pace with the rising cost of living, leaving more people struggling to feed their families.
“Incomes are stagnant. They are not growing. People are going home hungry. People no longer enjoy three square meals a day,” he said.
Describing the difficulties faced by women trying to buy food in local markets, he urged the government to pay greater attention to the pressure on household budgets.
“When you go to the markets, and you see women roaming in the markets, frustrated, not having enough money to put food on their table, I think the government needs to take these things seriously,” he said.
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