By Fatou Sillah
Abdoulie Ceesay, the National Assembly member for Old Yundum Constituency and the Deputy Majority Leader, has announced that he will seek a third term in Parliament, saying he is confident voters will return him to office in the next National Assembly elections.
“I am going to contest again, and I am going to win them,” Ceesay said in an interview with Kerr Fatou.
Ceesay, who has represented Old Yundum since 2017, pointed to infrastructure improvements in the constituency as part of his record in office. He cited the construction of roads in communities that previously lacked road access and said one of his responsibilities as a legislator is to ensure constituents benefit from government development initiatives.
At the same time, Ceesay argued that lawmakers should not be evaluated primarily on the basis of physical development projects undertaken in their constituencies.
He said the constitutional role of a member of the National Assembly is to represent constituents through legislation, oversight, and advocacy, including lobbying the government to provide essential public services such as roads, electricity, water, and employment opportunities.
According to Ceesay, public expectations that legislators should personally finance development projects have created a misunderstanding of the office and risk distracting lawmakers from their core parliamentary duties.
“If we are electing NAMs, we should elect them based on what they are going to do for us in the chambers but not what they are going to bring for us physically from their own pockets,” he said.
He urged voters to place greater emphasis on legislators’ performance in the National Assembly, arguing that assessing representatives on their legislative work, rather than solely on visible development projects, would strengthen parliamentary democracy and allow lawmakers to focus on the responsibilities assigned to them under the Constitution.
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