By Fatou Sillah
Lawmakers on Monday voted down a proposal by National Assembly Member Almameh Gibba of Foni Kansala to reduce the budget for the president’s annual Meet the People tour from 50 million Dalasi to 35 million, arguing that the cuts were impractical and out of step with recent spending patterns.
During the committee of supply’s review of the 2026 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, Mr. Gibba urged colleagues to reallocate part of the tour’s budget line—formally listed as “Presidential Visit to the Provinces”—to priority sectors such as education, health, and infrastructure.
“By looking at the budget line that I have before me, it is just from January to October; the actual is about 32 million, so I believe reducing it to 35 million will do the needful, because we have salient budget lines that are of national interest that I think we could use the 15 million to put it there—education, education, health, infrastructure. This is my justification,” Mr. Gibba said.
But several lawmakers argued that the suggested reduction ignored the reality of past spending and the constitutional role of the tour itself.
Speaker Fabakary Tombong Jatta reminded members that the annual nationwide outreach is not optional. “The meet the people’s tour is a constitutional requirement mandated on the president to go and listen to the Gambian people and tell them his policies; this requirement is as important as any other that we may cite,” he said.
Hon. Abdoulie Mbowe challenged Mr. Gibba’s proposal, pointing out that actual expenditures on the tour in previous years had exceeded the allocated amounts, suggesting that further cuts would hinder the exercise.
In the final tally, 22 lawmakers voted to retain the full 50 million Dalasi allocation, 14 supported Mr. Gibba’s proposed reduction, and one member abstained.