{"id":91126,"date":"2025-12-01T08:54:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T08:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/madi-jobarteh-defends-bakary-badjie-on-salaries-bill"},"modified":"2025-12-01T09:07:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T09:07:18","slug":"madi-jobarteh-defends-bakary-badjie-on-salaries-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/madi-jobarteh-defends-bakary-badjie-on-salaries-bill","title":{"rendered":"Madi Jobarteh Defends Bakary Badjie on Salaries Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>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.<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u2019 compensation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey accused this young man of misinformation, dishonesty, and sensationalism,\u201d Jobarteh said. \u201cIn essence, they branded him a liar simply for stating facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Jobarteh, a central claim advanced by supporters of the bill\u2014that its purpose is limited to granting gratuity to the families of deceased lawmakers\u2014is misleading.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jobarteh argued that the bill\u2019s provision for deceased members\u2019 gratuity is only the third\u2014and least consequential\u2014of its stated objectives. The primary effect, he said, is to retroactively legalize salary increases that lawmakers have received for years without statutory approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cThus, 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Jobarteh said the 2025 amendment bill lists the salaries lawmakers already receive\u2014figures 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\u2014excluding additional allowances and material benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese figures exclude seven additional allowances and a host of material benefits,\u201d Jobarteh said. \u201cNone 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

He argued that the amendment bill now before lawmakers is an attempt to legitimize compensation practices that were never sanctioned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the truth NAM Badgie told and for which he was insulted and gagged,\u201d Jobarteh said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":91125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-91126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nMadi Jobarteh Defends Bakary Badjie on Salaries Bill - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Human rights advocate Madi Jobarteh has come to the defense of Bakary Badjie, the National Assembly member for Foni B ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/madi-jobarteh-defends-bakary-badjie-on-salaries-bill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Madi Jobarteh Defends Bakary Badjie on Salaries Bill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Human rights advocate Madi Jobarteh has come to the defense of Bakary Badjie, the National Assembly member for Foni B ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/madi-jobarteh-defends-bakary-badjie-on-salaries-bill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-01T08:54:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-01T09:07:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1764567372.127008.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"940\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/madi-jobarteh-defends-bakary-badjie-on-salaries-bill#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/madi-jobarteh-defends-bakary-badjie-on-salaries-bill\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Madi Jobarteh Defends Bakary Badjie on Salaries Bill\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-01T08:54:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-01T09:07:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/madi-jobarteh-defends-bakary-badjie-on-salaries-bill\"},\"wordCount\":473,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/madi-jobarteh-defends-bakary-badjie-on-salaries-bill#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1764567372.127008.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/madi-jobarteh-defends-bakary-badjie-on-salaries-bill#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/madi-jobarteh-defends-bakary-badjie-on-salaries-bill\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/madi-jobarteh-defends-bakary-badjie-on-salaries-bill\",\"name\":\"Madi Jobarteh Defends Bakary Badjie on Salaries Bill - 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