Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, Information Minister
By Ramatoulie Jawo
The minister of Information, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, during his Ministry’s quarterly press conference on Wednesday, clarified that the labour agreement between The Gambia and Spain is entirely free of charge.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday, Dr. Ceesay emphasized that no one should pay any agency or agent for the opportunity to work in Spain under this program.
“Your first question is about the Spain agreement, that the agencies are taking money from the citizens especially the youth telling them that they will take them to Spain I want to make this clarity that since the government make this announcement, the MOU is signed, and ratified by the members of the National Assembly we told the citizens that nobody should pay money because it is free of charge. Nobody should pay money under this agreement to travel to Spain,” Dr. Ceesay said while responding to a reporter’s question at the press conference.
He explained that, around two weeks ago, the government announced a list of agencies responsible for the agreements with Spain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. However, the government later clarified to the public that, regarding the Spain agreement, they have not assigned any agency to handle recruitment; the government will manage the recruitment process directly.
Dr. Ceesay emphasized that anyone who has paid money to an agency is solely dealing with the agency, as the government did not instruct anyone to make payments for the Spain agreement. He reiterated that the government had clearly stated the Spain agreement is free of charge.
“The government made it clear that it is free, that nobody is expected to pay anything, and I am making it clear in this press conference also that nobody should pay anything to an agency and if anyone pays money to an agency, go and request back your money,” he said.
When asked about a letter circulating on social media, allegedly from the Spanish government regarding the labour deal, Dr. Ceesay stated he could not confirm its authenticity, as he had only seen the letter on social media.
“I cannot confirm whether it is true or not. But what I can make clear is that the MOU was signed to make sure the Gambian citizens can travel to Spain for work, in the right process to earn money for themselves. Because when they return with the money to the Gambia, they will help themselves, and the country as well. And also to mitigate irregular migration among the young people of the Gambia.” He said.
Dr. Ceesay emphasized that recruitment and selection are distinct processes. He explained that the government’s intention was for agencies to handle recruitment to ease the government’s workload, leaving final selection to the government. However, after observing considerable discussion and concerns, the government decided to manage both recruitment and selection through the Directorate of Labour.
A journalist questioned why only the Spain arrangements would be managed directly by the government, while other agreements, like those with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, remain with the agencies.
In response, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay explained that the Spain program has generated significantly more interest compared to the others. As a responsible government, he noted, it is essential to handle these matters with extra care due to their sensitive nature. The aim, he added, is to ensure a transparent process that satisfies both Spain and The Gambia.
“So it is the government’s view that the Spain one has gathered more interest and therefore the government has to really take charge of that now. Now, when it comes to the payment, that is not the job of the government. If the government had initially announced from the onset that nobody should pay a dime to any agency, and you pay your money to the agency, and you realize that they received the money fraudulently, that is your job to take them to the police and recover your money,”he said.
He emphasized that if the government had initially asked people to pay and later changed its stance, that would be understandable. However, he stated, “yes, but government had made it very clear from the beginning that body should pay any money to any agency,”