The first Cabinet meeting of President Adama Barrow’s government commenced Thursday, 13th April 2017. In his opening statement President Barrow noted that expectations are high and they have to urgently embark on a transformative national development agenda in line with their manifesto. He highlighted the huge task ahead and the need to be action oriented. He sets the priority areas as the energy sector, fixing the broken economy, unifying the nation, improve the health and agricultural sub-sectors and end the country’s isolation. He further highlighted the urgency for institutional, electoral and constitution reforms in line with what he described as “our new democratic principles that will respond to the realities of our time.” The President pointed out that all these will be done along with the civil service and security reforms as well as state owned enterprises.

President Barrow urged his Cabinet to be resolute and action oriented in their determination to build a better Gambia. He recognized that with the wealth of experiences and competence in the cabinet, rapid transformation can take place to bring back the former glory of the nation. He is optimistic that the Cabinet will work together to formulate the right policies and programmes to address short term needs but also to control poverty, hunger and diseases, which he described as “the enemies of humankind.” President Barrow hopes that they would work to realize the dream which triggered the historic change in December 2016.

In line with democratic principles, President Barrow expects his cabinet to debate constructively to reach consensus on the common agenda. This will require collective responsibility to further the national development agenda. He called on the cabinet to work hard and take advantage of the good will of our development partners to achieve the expectations of Gambians.

The President concluded by thanking his cabinet for taking the responsibility of nation building. He urged them to work together and advised that to success they must all “strive and work and pray” as stated in our national anthem.