The Gambia has emerged from a very difficult economic situation and a political crisis created by a dictator’s refusal of democratic process. The economy was stalled with no IMF program, failed rainy season and a completely flopped tourist season.
Over the period, 2017-2019, when UDP was part of the Coalition government, the party’s representatives served in various positions in government, ministries of foreign Affairs, Lands and Regional Integration, Finance and Economic Affairs and then the Vice President, Agriculture and Trade, Industry, Employment and Regional Integration. Gambians will look back and have no regret in having UDP in government affairs seeing their track record whilst in Government.
Just to remind you a few of its achievements for The Gambia, our homeland, let me list a few impactful developmental and transformative efforts of the UDP members in Government:
v Bringing back Gambia from isolation into the community of nations –rejoining the Commonwealth, the ICC, bringing back the IMF programme after years of disengagement, qualifying Gambia for the Threshold Programme of the Millennium Challenge Corporation and opening the way for higher Gambia-US development cooperation, leading the preparation and marketing of the NDP 2018-2021, successfully worked on the Gambia Development Donors Conference in May 2018 and secured pledges of $1.7 billion above all our expectations, negotiated the road map for the electricity modernization of the country with our partners, including the electricity lines from Senegal and the Hydro-power from Guinea through Soma in LRR, Solar power for all schools and health centres and upgrading the transmission and distribution lines.
We and all Gambians are grateful for every single butut from the launching of this party to this day and we look forward to the continued support to the party to sustain the party’s goal of deepening and maintaining democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the country and to usher in a transformative economic development giving rise to prosperity for all citizens. In here, may I acknowledge the invaluable support and financial contribution of the diaspora to the UDP from its inception to date. I, personally can attest to this having directly received funds from the diaspora for financing various party activities. As National Treasurer and on behalf of our UDP party leader and Secretary General, the national executive and all members of the party, I thank the diaspora and pray that we continue to work together for the interest of the country and not for the interest of individuals.
I also want to acknowledge here, every individual’s contribution in cash or kind to the party, whether one butut or one million. Your one butut contribution is worth more than a billion dalasis value today, having contributed to the freedom and establishment of democracy in The Gambia and also .