Africa-Press – Gambia. Human rights advocate Madi Jobarteh has come to the defense of Bakary Badjie, the National Assembly member for Foni Bintang, after a contentious debate erupted over the National Assembly Salaries and Pensions (Amendment) Bill 2025. The bill, introduced by Nominated Member Kebba Lang Fofana, has sparked sharp disagreement within the legislature and across the public.
Jobarteh said Badjie was unfairly targeted by fellow lawmakers after he questioned the intent of the proposed legislation, which seeks to formalize changes to lawmakers’ compensation.
“They accused this young man of misinformation, dishonesty, and sensationalism,” Jobarteh said. “In essence, they branded him a liar simply for stating facts.”
According to Jobarteh, a central claim advanced by supporters of the bill—that its purpose is limited to granting gratuity to the families of deceased lawmakers—is misleading.
“Throughout the debate, nearly every NAM who defended the bill insisted that its sole purpose was to allow the families of deceased members to benefit from gratuity. This is demonstrably false,” he said.
Jobarteh argued that the bill’s provision for deceased members’ gratuity is only the third—and least consequential—of its stated objectives. The primary effect, he said, is to retroactively legalize salary increases that lawmakers have received for years without statutory approval.
“Thus, the narrative that the bill is only about deceased members gratuities is an intentional misrepresentation. The bigger truth is that the bill legalizes years of illegal salary increments. Therefore, NAM Bakary Badjie was right: the first purpose of the bill is to retroactively legalize illegal salary increments enjoyed by NAMs since at least 2017,” he said.
Citing the National Assembly Salaries and Pensions Act of 1997, Jobarteh noted that the law sets annual salaries far below current earnings: D86,400 for the Speaker, D60,000 for the Deputy Speaker and Majority Leader, and D48,000 for the Minority Leader and other members. The act authorizes only three allowances.
In contrast, Jobarteh said the 2025 amendment bill lists the salaries lawmakers already receive—figures more than ten times higher in some cases. According to the bill, the Speaker is paid D1.2 million annually; the Deputy Speaker, D840,000; the Majority Leader, D702,684; the Minority Leader, D663,000; and all other elected and nominated members, D624,000—excluding additional allowances and material benefits.
“These figures exclude seven additional allowances and a host of material benefits,” Jobarteh said. “None of these increments have any legal basis. The law never authorized them. Therefore, the increments are illegal. The benefits are illegal. The allowances are illegal. The current pensions and gratuities are illegal.”
He argued that the amendment bill now before lawmakers is an attempt to legitimize compensation practices that were never sanctioned.
“This was the truth NAM Badgie told and for which he was insulted and gagged,” Jobarteh said.
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