{"id":95496,"date":"2026-04-01T10:56:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T10:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/busumbala-nam-rebuked-for-challenging-presidents-claim"},"modified":"2026-04-01T12:11:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T12:11:16","slug":"busumbala-nam-rebuked-for-challenging-presidents-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/busumbala-nam-rebuked-for-challenging-presidents-claim","title":{"rendered":"Busumbala NAM Rebuked for Challenging President\u2019S Claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong> <\/span>A tense showdown rocked the National Assembly on Monday when Muhammed Kanteh, the Member for Busumbala, directly challenged the truthfulness of President Adama Barrow\u2019s claim that The Gambia is the safest country in West Africa, leading to an immediate rebuke from the Speaker and a formal demand for disciplinary action by Nominated Member Kebba Lang Fofana.<\/b><\/p>\n

The confrontation began as Hon Kanteh shifted his analysis of the president\u2019s State of the Nation Address to the topic of national security. Voicing skepticism, he questioned the basis of the president\u2019s optimistic assessment. \u201cI don\u2019t know where they have obtained that data or the methodologies that they used to drive to that conclusion,\u201d Hon Kanteh stated.<\/p>\n

He then issued a direct appeal: \u201cThe president should be truthful next time when doing this analogy. You cannot play politics with security.\u201d<\/p>\n

The remarks instantly created a stir, with the Speaker stepping in to caution Kanteh. Nominated Member Honourable Kebba Lang Fofana rose to object to Kanteh\u2019s conduct.<\/p>\n

Addressing the Speaker, Hon Fofana argued that the Busumbala NAM was making \u201cunsubstantiated statements\u201d without providing any evidence. He further stated that Hon Kanteh was willfully disobeying the Speaker\u2019s authority to maintain order. Citing the assembly\u2019s rules, Hon Fofana concluded with a stern request. \u201cMy request is, if he persists, let us go for disciplinary actions,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n

The explosive exchange over security came after Hon Kanteh had offered a detailed and more measured review of other key areas in the president\u2019s speech, primarily education and health.<\/p>\n

In his earlier comments, the Busumbala NAM acknowledged the importance of the government\u2019s focus on \u201cHuman Capital.\u201d<\/p>\n

He agreed with the budget allocation of 10 billion and 5 million dalasi to the education and health sectors, representing 7.7% of the nation\u2019s total expenditure on Human Resources and Health.<\/p>\n

However, while he appreciated that much of this money was being used for the construction of school buildings, he urged the government to shift its focus to the people within those buildings.<\/p>\n

He called for an increase in the salaries and welfare of teachers, arguing that they are responsible for developing the country\u2019s future leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore you can be able to give a productive learning environment, you must have that stability of the mind,\u201d Hon Kanteh explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you cannot have a stable mind if your pocket is empty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, on health, he recognised the allocation of 3.1 billion dalasi for upgrading health facilities. He added that while building modern structures is a welcome step, the government must also ensure that health personnel are properly trained to provide professional service to the people.<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Gambia<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. A tense showdown rocked the National Assembly on Monday when Muhammed Kanteh, the Member for Busumbala, directly challenged the truthfulness of President Adama Barrow\u2019s claim that The Gambia is the safest country in West Africa, leading to an immediate rebuke from the Speaker and a formal demand for disciplinary action by Nominated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":95494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-95496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nBusumbala NAM Rebuked for Challenging President\u2019S Claim - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag"> Africa-Press - Gambia. 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