By: Amie Choi
The newly appointed Minister of Lands, Regional Government and Religious Affairs Hon. Ousman Sowe, recently met with the Hajj Commission and members of the Hajj Travel Operators.
The primary objective of the meeting was to identify ways of strengthening the relationship between the Hajj Commission, the ministry and the private operators in a bid to harmonise efforts that complement and not compete one another.
It was also meant to be an opportunity to identify the way forward for future Hajj-related shortcomings.
The minister emphasised the need for the commission to give constant updates to the Government to enhance proactive decisions in preparation of the 2024 Hajj.
He further stressed that both the ministry and the Hajj Commission are here to serve the best interest of the public and therefore there must exist a strong relationship amongst all actors.
He urged the Hajj Commission to communicate their challenges to the Government. “The Government is responsible for addressing the need of the Hajj Commission but the Commission should inform the Government about these needs to be able to act on them.” he said.
He noted that it is very important for private operators to operate on a set of regulations to avoid any form of discord.
Representatives of both the Hajj Commission and Operators expressed gratitude to the ministry for the platform to discuss a national issue and to better prepare for subsequent Hajj.
The minister was assisted by his Permanent Secretary Mrs Saffie Sankareh-Farage; Mr Pa Khalifa Sanyang, the new focal person for Religious Affairs; and Mr David Gomez, Director of Governance.
In a separate engagement, the Hon Minister held his first meeting with the Senior Management Team (SMT) of the Ministry. During his deliberations, Hon. Sowe called for institutional strengthening, sustainable and equitable land use, hierarchy and communication in decision making and performance appraisal amongst others. He told his staff to prioritise the needs of Gambians. “In exercise of our duties and functions, the Gambian people should feature prominently and at all times,” he affirmed.
