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Momodou
Denmark
11525 Posts |
 Posted - 16 Jan 2018 : 11:50:23
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CIVIL SOCIETY NATIONAL PRESS CONFERENCE
TANGO PUBLIC STATEMENT
15 January 2018
The Association of NGOs in the Gambia (TANGO) will convene a major national press conference of stakeholders in the Non-State Sector on Friday 19th January 2018 at the TANGO conference Hall at 10am. The press conference coincides with the first anniversary of the Barrow Administration and the end of 22 years of brutal dictatorship in the country. The purpose of the press conference is to mark the resurgence of the Gambian civil society to more effectively engage in the building of the New Gambia. It seeks to set the stage for a more informed and principled partnership with the Gambia Government in furtherance of the objectives of the democratic change to which the Coalition Government has dedicated itself.
The press conference is premised on the theme ‘The Gambia We Want’ to further express the decision and desire of the people of the Gambia at the polls on 1st December 2016 – a democratic dispensation firmly rooted in good governance and a vehicle for sustainable development. TANGO holds that it is the business of all citizens to actively and effectively participate in the making of the New Gambia. To this end, TANGO will launch series of national conversations on the theme ‘The Gambia We Want’ to enable citizens to determine the destiny of their country.
This theme ‘The Gambia We Want’ aims to kick-start or instigate national conversations around the question of what kind of the Gambia we desire. It is to encourage active citizen participation in governance, empower citizens to hold the state accountable and make citizens understand their rights and responsibilities. Good and responsible leadership, active citizenship and respect and adherence to the tenets of good governance are sine qua non for the new society we want to build.
Hence moving forward TANGO holds that if the Gambia is not to repeat the ignominious past, citizens will have to create platforms for discussion on the kind of Gambia they want. In this way citizens will therefore realize their power that the sovereignty of the Gambia resides in the people and it is from the people that the state derives its legitimacy and that the state functions only to serve the people.
The country faces major processes at this moment such as constitution building, transitional justice and legal and institutional reforms. These processes demand that citizens become active participants in order to ensure their credibility, legitimacy and accountability. It is when citizens got involved in such nation building processes that the country would be able to produce institutions, leaders and a political dispensation that is transparent, effective and responsive to the needs of the people.
TANGO therefore calls on all Gambians to reposition and reorient ourselves from being that erstwhile politically dormant and inactive citizens to becoming a new vigilant and active citizen who ensures that the government responds to the needs of the country in line with the rule of law and the deepest aspirations of the people.
TANGO hereby invites all people living in The Gambia to the Civil Society National Press Conference as we embark on taking that step in the journey towards building the New Gambia.
Welcome All.
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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CIVIL SOCIETY NATIONAL PRESS CONFERENCE
