The National Council for Civic Education (NCCE) with support from UNFPA The Gambia has kicked off in Kerewan, NBR, the Training of newly elected and re-elected Councillors on the Local Government Act, 2002 as Amended, Finance and Audit Act, 2004 and the Decentralization Policy. The main objective of the training is to build the capacities of all the elected and nominated Councillors and key council staff on the legal frameworks and policies that underpin decentralization in the Gambia.
Under the theme: “Building Local Council Capacity for Efficient Service Delivery”, the activity will be implemented from the 15th to 20th June, 2023 across the eight Administrative Regions (Basse, Janjangbureh, Kuntaur, Mansakonko, Kerewan, Brikama, Kanifing and Banjul) of the country.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr Yusupha Bojang, the Programme Manager of NCCE, said that as Councillors, the Local Government Act is the legal framework that regulates a decentralized local system for The Gambia and it specifies their powers, functions and limitation as local council authorities. It is therefore, he argued, extremely important for councillors to have a firm understanding of the laws on decentralization.
Mr Bojang also handed copies of the Local Government Act to the Kerewan Area Council Authorities to improve access to the law.