Mayor of Banjul and Refela President
By Buba Gagigo
The Mayor of Banjul, Rohey Malick Lowe on Tuesday delivered her first session address at the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) World Congress underway in Daejeon, South Korea.
The main objective of the session is to raise awareness on the existence of the principles of Effective Governance adopted by ECOSOC in 2018 and allowing the ownership of such principles by the LRGs.
The Banjul Mayor first talks about the importance of local and regional government level to understand the full realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It is important for actors like us at the Local and Regional Government level to understand that the full realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals and other internationally agreed development objectives like the Climate Agenda, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Management, the New Urban Agenda, and of course, the Agenda 2063 – The Africa We Want, including our municipal development plans, strongly depends on the common understanding of the basic principles of effective governance for sustainable development,” she told the gathering on Tuesday.
The Banjul Mayor said without such guiding principles, achieving any development plan would be on a risk and ineffective.
She highlighted that the Banjul City Council (BCC) Development Plan is anchored around the long-term development plan of The Gambia, which she said draws inspiration from the global agendas.
On BCC, she said ‘accountability’ is a watch word as they implement their annual work plan.
“The entire Staff and council understand the necessity of discharging their duties with integrity. We have put in place task force committees who ensure the activities are carried out with the respect of a high level of integrity. Also, competitive public procurement principles are respected in the execution of expenditure. The budget of the council is a public document, which is posted in the council as well as the administrative account for public scrutiny,” the Mayor Lowe said.
The Mayor of Banjul Rohey Malick Lowe who double as the president of REFELA Africa (the Network of Local Women Elected in Africa), is currently attending the United Cities and Local Governments World Congress in Daejeon, South Korea ending on 14th October.
The session which is dubbed ‘Local4Action’ is being attended by the President of UCLG Africa, Hon. Ms Fatimetou Mint Abdel Malick, Mayor of Miami-Dade, Florida, among others.