{"id":82485,"date":"2025-07-21T07:33:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T07:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/lower-saloum-nam-says-majority-leader-is-unfit-for-role"},"modified":"2025-07-21T07:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T07:58:15","slug":"lower-saloum-nam-says-majority-leader-is-unfit-for-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/lower-saloum-nam-says-majority-leader-is-unfit-for-role","title":{"rendered":"Lower Saloum NAM Says Majority Leader is Unfit for Role"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>Hon. Sainey Jawara, National Assembly Member (NAM) for Lower Saloum under the National Reconciliation Party (NRP), has publicly criticized Hon. Billay G. Tunkara, Majority Leader and NAM for Kantora, stating that he is unfit for the leadership role he holds in the National Assembly.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Speaking in an exclusive interview with Eye Africa TV, Hon. Jawara accused the Majority Leader, who represents the National People\u2019s Party (NPP), of failing to fulfill his responsibilities\u2014particularly in relation to the recent parliamentary inquiry into the petroleum scandal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe majority leader is not fit for his position. The reason I say that is because representing government business in parliament is not an easy thing. Something worth 30 million dollars\u2014we are discussing that. The first day he came, he said nothing will come out of this and that there is no evidence,\u201d Jawara said.<\/p>\n<p>Jawara expressed frustration over what he described as a lack of support and interest from Tunkara during the investigation. He claimed the Majority Leader made no effort to engage with him or understand the details of the case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe did not call me and ask me to explain how it happened, whereby he can filter that information to the principal because he placed you here, but belittled me on my work since the beginning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>According to Jawara, Tunkara\u2019s involvement in the Public Enterprises Committee (PEC) was minimal and disruptive. \u201cWhen we started, he was in the PEC, and he only came to that meeting when the ministers were coming. In fact, he came to distract the meeting,\u201d Jawara alleged.<\/p>\n<p>Jawara also criticized the Majority Leader for undermining the credibility of the petroleum investigation. \u201cThis petroleum issue, the citizens knew more about it because the Republic made a publication about it. You, that is, a NAM, telling people that it is not true, not knowing that people already have the truth,\u201d He Said.<\/p>\n<p>He further alleged that much of the committee\u2019s findings were carefully documented and that Tunkara\u2019s remarks appeared to be motivated by loyalty to the executive branch rather than the pursuit of accountability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe filter most of our information in this document. That is why I say it is very important to me. We did our work. All that the majority was saying was just to satisfy the executive. The majority is just a position and title, but he is not doing the needful,\u201d He Said.<\/p>\n<p>Jawara recounted that his motion to investigate the petroleum scandal was met with hostility from the former Minister of Petroleum, Abdoulie Jobe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe day I put on that motion, the former petroleum minister Abdoulie Jobe was angry. When I finished reading the motion, I went out, and he refused to shake my hand, and I was like Something happened.\u201d Jawara said.<\/p>\n<p>He added \u201cDuring the day of my motion, the Attorney General asked me to brief him on it. I told him that I cannot because this has been on your domain for years and you did not know about it. I cannot tell you about it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He also stressed that ministerial appointments should be based on competence rather than political affiliation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut during that appointment, there was no oath of secrecy that shows that you belong to a particular party. And in fact, it doesn\u2019t appoint based on the fact that you are in NPP. It says this person has knowledge in this particular thing which is why we appoint him. There are people who are appointed now, but they were not in this fight. When they put you in a ministerial position, you should do good because no position is permanent,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, Jawara suggested that the president should consider dismissing the Director of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), questioning the handling of financial oversight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I should advise the president today, the director of NIA should be fired. You trade four billion Dalasi in this country, and you say there is no evasion? That is the budget for how many ministries?\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. Hon. Sainey Jawara, National Assembly Member (NAM) for Lower Saloum under the National Reconciliation Party (NRP), has publicly criticized Hon. Billay G. Tunkara, Majority Leader and NAM for Kantora, stating that he is unfit for the leadership role he holds in the National Assembly. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Eye Africa [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":82484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-82485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lower Saloum NAM Says Majority Leader is Unfit for Role - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hon. 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