By Seedy Jobe
United Democratic Party (UDP) leader ANM Ousainu Darboe has pledged to cut the president’s salary and allowances by 30 percent if elected, saying the savings would be redirected toward agriculture and essential public services.
Darboe made the remarks during an interview on For The People By The People, where he was questioned about income inequality and the disparity between benefits enjoyed by senior government officials and the economic difficulties facing ordinary Gambians.
Responding, Darboe said The Gambia lacks a comprehensive social welfare system providing direct assistance to struggling households. He argued that government spending also fails to adequately address the needs of farmers, who constitute a significant portion of the country’s workforce.
As part of efforts to address the disparity, Darboe said a government under his leadership would reduce the president’s salary and allowances by 30 percent and review State House household expenditures.
“I am giving another thought that will take a 30% cut from the President’s salary and allowances also, and the household expenditure will certainly be reviewed,” he said.
Darboe said savings from those reductions would be directed toward agricultural production to help farmers increase output. He also pledged to drastically reduce government-related political spending.
The UDP leader reiterated his intention to serve only one five-year term if elected, arguing that a president who is not seeking re-election would be better positioned to make difficult decisions without considering their political consequences.
“When you are not looking for an election, you really do the needful and do what is right,” he said.
Darboe also criticized the cost of presidential “Meet the Farmers” tours, questioning the need for large delegations of ministers and permanent secretaries to accompany the president.
He said regional directors responsible for agriculture, health, and education are better positioned to brief the president on challenges facing communities within their respective regions. Limiting presidential delegations to relevant officials, he argued, would substantially reduce government expenditure without compromising the effectiveness of such tours.
Darboe also criticized what he described as an imbalance between recent salary increases for public servants and the prices paid to farmers for their produce.
He said it was unfair for the government to announce a 30 percent salary increase for public servants while the price paid for groundnuts has remained at about D3,000 per tonne for three years.
“They are giving the 30 percent increase to incentivize the public service. Do the same thing for the farmers,” Darboe said.
He proposed that the government announce higher producer prices before the farming season, suggesting a price of D6,000 per tonne for groundnuts as an incentive for farmers to increase cultivation and production.
Darboe also said providing farmers with free fertilizer could be financially feasible if the government reduced unnecessary spending and allowances.
He argued that cutting government waste and directing more resources toward agriculture would help improve farmers’ incomes and address disparities in income distribution across the country.
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