All papers, statistics and materials contained in the Country Profiles express entirely the opinion of the mentioned authors.
They should not, unless otherwise mentioned, be attributed to the Secretariat of the United Nations.

The designations employed and the presentation of material on maps in the Country Profiles do not imply the expression
of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country,
territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

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Division for Public Administration
and Development Management (DPADM)
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)
United Nations

Contributions:
African Training and Research Centre in Administration for Development (CAFRAD)

August 2004

Table of C ontents
Tabl e of Co ntent s………………………………………………………………
………………. 1
The Gambi a………………………………………………………………
…………………….. 2
1. General In formati on………………………………………………………………
……….. 3
1.1 Peopl e………………………………………………………………
…………………….. 3
1.2 E conom y………………………………………………………………
…………………. 3
1.3 P ublic Spendi ng ………………………………………………………………
…………. 4
1.4 P ublic Sector Empl oyment a nd Wages ………………………………………………. 4
2. Legal Str ucture ………………………………………………………………
……………… 5
2.1 Legi slative Branch ………………………………………………………………
………. 5
2.2 E xecu tive Branch ………………………………………………………………
……….. 5
2.3 J udiciar y Branc h………………………………………………………………
………… 6
2.4 Local Go vernment ………………………………………………………………
………. 7
3. T he Stat e and Civil Soci ety ………………………………………………………………
.. 9
3.1 Ombud sperson ………………………………………………………………
………….. 9
3.2 NGOs ………………………………………………………………
……………………… 9
3.3 Ci vil Soci ety ………………………………………………………………
…………….. 10
4. Ci vil Servi ce………………………………………………………………
………………… 12
4.1 Legal basis………………………………………………………………
………………. 12
4.2 Recrui tment ………………………………………………………………
…………….. 12
4.3 Promot ion………………………………………………………………
……………….. 13
4.4 Remu ne rati on ………………………………………………………………
………….. 13
4.5 Trai ning ………………………………………………………………
………………….. 13
4.6 Reti rement an d pen sion………………………………………………………………
. 13
4.7 Gende r………………………………………………………………
…………………… 14
5. E thics a nd Ci vil Service ………………………………………………………………
…… 15
5.1 Corrupti on………………………………………………………………
………………. 15
5.2 E thics ………………………………………………………………
…………………….. 15
6. e-Gove rn ment ………………………………………………………………
……………… 17
6.1 e-Gover nment Readi ness …………………………………………………………….. 17
6.2 e-Par ticipati on………………………………………………………………
………….. 18
7. Li nks ………………………………………………………………
…………………………. 19
7.1 Nati onal si tes ………………………………………………………………
…………… 19
7.2 Mi scel laneou s si tes ………………………………………………………………
…….. 19

1

The Gambia
Click here for map of A frica

Source: The Wo rld Factbook – The Gambi a

Govern ment type
Repu blic u nder mu ltipart y democrat ic ru le

Inde pen dence
18 February 1965 (from UK)

Consti tuti on
24 April 1970; suspended July 19 94;
rewritten a nd approv ed by national
referendum 8 August 1 996; reesta blished
January 19 97 (cl ick here)

Lega l sys tem
Based on a composite of English co mmon
law, Shari’a (Islamic la w), and customary
law; accepts compulsory Inter national Court
of Justice jurisdiction , with reservations

Administr ative divi sions
5 divisions and 1 city (Banjul)
Source: The Wo rld Factbook – The Gambi a

Before the coup d’état in July
1994, The Gambia wa s one
of the oldest ex ist ing mu lti-
party demo cracies in Africa.
Af ter t he milit ary cou p where
the Armed Forces P rov ision al
Ru lin g C ouncil ( AFPRC)
seiz ed pow er, polit ician s
from deposed President
Jawara’s P eopl e’s Progres-
sive Party (PP P) a nd other
seni or government offi cials
were banned from participa-
ting in pol itics u ntil J uly
2001.
A presidentia l e lection took
place in September 1996, in
which retired Col. Yahya
A.J.J. Jammeh won 56% of
the vo te.
Source: U.S. De partment of St ate –
The Gambia (edi ted)
2
TT HH EE GG AA MM BB IIAA

11.. GG eenneerraall IInnffoorrmm aattiioonn

1.1 Pe ople Gambia, The Guinea- Bissa u Sen ega l 1
Popu lation a
Total estimate d popu lation (,000), 2003 1,426 1,493 10, 094
Fema le estimated popu lation (,000), 2003 720 756 5,290
Male estimat ed popu lation ( ,000), 2003 706 737 5,237
Sex rat io (males per 100 female s), 2003 98 97 99
Averag e annua l rate of chang e of pop. (%), 2000- 2005 2.66 2.95 -0. 08
Youth and Eld erly Population b
Total popu lation unde r age 15 (%), 2003 41 47 43
Fema le popu lation age d 60+ (%), 2003 6 5 5
Male popu lation age d 60+ (%), 2003 6 4 4
Human Se ttlements c
Urban popu lation (%), 2001 31 32 48
Rural popu lation (%), 2001 69 68 52
Urban av erag e a nnual rate of c hange in pop. (%) , ‘00-‘05 4.35 4.79 3.95
Rural av erage an nual rat e of cha nge in po p/ (%) , ‘00-‘05 1.44 1.21 1.1
Education d
Total schoo l life expectancy, 200 0/2001 .. .. .. 1
Fema le schoo l life expectancy , 2000/2001 .. .. .. 1
Male schoo l life expe ctancy , 2000/2001 .. .. .. 1
Fema le est imated adu lt (15+) illi teracy rate (%) , 2000 70. 3 76. 5 72. 3i 2
Male est imat ed a dult (15+) illitera cy rate (%) , 2000 56. 3 45. 9 52. 7i 2
Employ ment e
Unempl oyme nt rate (15+ ) (%) , 2000 .. .. .. 1
Fema le adult (+ 15) econo mic act ivity rat e (%) , 2000 45ii .. 24i 2
Male adu lt (+ 15) econo mic act ivity rate (%) , 2000 70ii .. 83i 2
Not es: i 1988; ii 1993
1.2 Ec onomy Gambia, The Guinea- Bissa u Sen ega l 2
GDP a
GDP total (millions U S$), 2002 388 216 4,940
GDP pe r capi ta (US$), 2002 282 172 494
PPP GDP tota l (millions int. US$), 2002 2,370 i 975 15,361
PPP GDP per ca pita(i nt. US$), 2002 1,722 i 778 1,535
Sectors b
Val ue adde d in agriculture (% of GDP), 2004 32. 0 70. 7 17. 0
Val ue adde d in industry (% of G DP), 2004 14. 4 12. 6 21. 2
Val ue adde d in services (% of GDP), 2004 53. 7 16. 8 61. 8
Miscell aneous c
GDP imp licit price def lato r (annua l % gro wth), 200 4 15.1 3.8 1.4
Private consu mption ( % of GDP), 2004 75. 2 87. 9 75. 7
Governme nt con sumpt ion (% of GDP), 2004 10. 7 14. 3 14. 3
Not es: i Est imate is base d on regressio n; other PPP figures ar e extrapo lated from the latest In ternatio nal Co mparison Programme benchma rk estimate s
1 United Na tions Statistics Division: a Stati stics D ivision and Popu lation Division of th e UN Sec retar iat; b Stati stics D ivision and P opulation Division of the UN Secr etar iat; c Popul ation D ivision of the U N Secretariat; d1 UNE SCO ; d2 UNES CO ; e1 ILO ; e2 ILO/OEC D 2 Wor ld Ba nk – Data and Stat istics:
3
a Qui ck R eferenc e Tab les; b Data Prof ile Tab les ; c Country at a Glance

1.3 P ublic Spending Gambia, The Guinea- Bissa u Sen ega l
Public exp endit ures 3
Educat ion ( % of GNP), 1985-198 7 3.7 1.8 .. a
Educat ion ( % of GNP), 1995-199 7 4.9 .. 3.7 a
Health (% of G DP), 1990 2.2 1.1 0.7
Health (% of G DP), 1998 2.3i .. 2.6
Mili tary (% of GDP), 1990 1.1 .. 2 b
Mili tary (% of GDP), 2000 1.1 1.3ii 1.4 b
Total de bt se rvice (% of G DP), 1990 11. 9 3.4 5.7
Total de bt se rvice (% of G DP), 2000 4.4 2.9 5.2
Not es: i 1999; ii 1998

1.4 Pub lic Sector Emp loy ment and Wa ges
Data fr om the latest year availab le

Gamb ia, The 1991-1995
Gamb ia, The 1996-2000
Sub-Saharan Africa average 4
1996-2000
Non- Franco- phone Afr ica average 4
1996-2000
Low i ncome group average 4
1996-2000
Employm ent
(,000) 3.0 3.6 Civilian Ce ntral Go vernment5 (% pop. ) 0.28 0.29 0.30 0.38 0.46
(,000) 1.0 0.4 Sub-nat iona l Gov ernm ent5 (% pop. ) 0.09 0.03 0.30 0.38 0.46
(,000) 4.0 5.0 Educat ion em ployees (% pop. ) 0.37 0.40 0.62 0.78 0.91
(,000) 2.0 3.1 Hea lth e mployees (% pop. ) 0.19 0.25 0.29 0.20 0.62
(,000) .. .. Police (% pop. ) .. .. 0.07 .. 0.30
(,000) 1.0 0.8 Arme d forc es (% pop. ) 0.09 0.06 0.26 0.31 0.33
(,000) .. 0.30 SOE Em ploye es (% pop. ) .. 0.02 .. .. 13. 1
(,000) .. .. Total Pub lic Em ployment (% pop .) .. .. .. .. ..
Wages
Total Central gov ‘t w age bill (% of G DP) .. 6.4 6.1 6.9 5.4
Total Central gov ’t w age bill (% of e xp) 20. 9 .. 28. 9 26. 4 24. 7
Ave rage gov’t w age (LC U) .. 22, 778
Real av e. gov’t wage (’97 pri ce) (LC U) .. 22, 527
Ave rage gov’t w age to pe r capita G DP ratio .. 6.3 4.8 2.8 4.4
Source: World B ank – Public Sect or Emplo yme nt a nd Wages

3 UND P – Human Devel opme nt Report 2002 a Data refer to total public ex penditure o n education, including current and capital expenditures. b As a re sult of a numb er of lim itations in the data, compar isons of military exp enditure data ov er t ime and a cross countri es shou ld be ma de with ca ution. For detailed note s on the data se e SI PRI (2 001). 4 Averag es for regions and sub r egions ar e on ly generate d if da ta is avail able for at least 35% of th e countr ies in that reg ion or sub reg ion.
4
5 Excluding education, health and police – if available (view Countr y Sourc es for further ex planat ions).

22.. LLeeggaall SS ttrruuccttuurree

A con stitu tion al ref orm proc ess wa s carried out before de mocratic rule was resto red
in 1996. The new constitution r einforced a system of governance based on three
branches: the Legislat ure, the Executive and the Judici ary, w hich have the s ame
statu tes bu t perform f unc tions wi thi n the co nfines of their r espec tive juri sdi ction. A
certai n amount o f overl appi ng exi sts betw een the executive and legis lative bran ch es,
which creates an environmen t o f checks and balances.
Source: Europe an Commission (Development) – Countr y Strateg y Paper and I ndicative Programme (2002-200 7)

2.1 Legi slative Br anc h
Unicam era l Na tiona l Assembl y (53 s eats; 48 elected b y pop ular vote, five a ppo inte d b y th e presi dent;
members serv e five- year ter ms).6
wome n in par liament : 7 out o f 53 seats: (13%). 7
The National Assemb ly consists of 53 membe rs with 48 members
elected from chieftaincy distri cts or co nstituencies and 5
nomi nated by the Pre sident. 9 E lec tions are a lso he ld ev ery five
years. The members t hemselves f rom among their m embers e lect
a Speaker of the National Assembly and a Deputy. 10
The legis lat ive bran ch h as t wo main ro les, o ne is repr esen tation
and t he ot her, l aw m aking. T he re presentati ve rol e whi ch takes
two forms i nvol ves representati on of i nterest gr oups and
geographical representation of various co nstitue ncies.
In addi tion to the Members of the House, committees en dowed with the
responsibilit y of examining pr oposed leg islatio n from the E xecutive are set up. The
Cons tituti on makes provi sion for the esta blis hmen t of parl iamen tar y commit tees of
which Pu blic Appoin tmen ts St an din g C ommit tee; F inance an d P ublic Accou nts
Standing Committee; Standing Committee o n Privileg es, and Standing Committee on
Defense a nd Securi ty (click here for present co mmittees).
The Nationa l Assembly passes Bills which are then asse nte d to by the President. B ills
assented to by the President become laws as an Act of the Na tional Assembly
[Secti on 10 0(1) of the Cons tituti on ].
Source: The Ga mbia: Human De velopment Repor t – Gove rnance in The Gambia (20 00) (edited )

2.2 E xecut ive Br anch
cabi net: Cabi net appo inte d b y the pr esid ent
electi ons: Presi dent el ected b y popu lar vote f or a five- year term; the numb er of terms is not restricted;
electi on last h eld 18 Octob er 200 1 (ne xt to b e hel d October 2006)
6 Sourc e of fact b oxes if noth ing else stated: The W orld Factbo ok – The Gambia 7 Inter- Parliament ary U nion – Wo men in Na tional Parliaments 8 The r uling A lliance for Pat riotic Reor ientat ion an d Con struct ion (APCR) ran un oppose d in 33 of t he 48 con stituen cies becaus e th e o ppos ition Democr atic Party boyco tted elect ions , BBC (Afr ica) – “Poor turno ut for Gam bian p olls” (17 January, 2002) 9 Figures f rom BBC (Afr ica) – “Poor turnout for Gambi an polls” (17 January, 2002) 10 Wor ld Ba nk (Th e Gam bia) – Country Fi nanci al Accountab ility Assessment (Jun e 2003)
5
Fact box :
elections: Last h eld
17 Januar y 2002
(next t o be held
Januar y 2007)
election results:
seats b y part y –
APRC 45, PDO IS 2,
NRP 1 8

In the Gambia, the Office of th e President is established by
Chap ter 6 part I and II of the 1996 Constitution and part I II of the
same chapter details out the Exec ut ive powers vested to the holder
of the office. E lection fo r presiden cy is cond ucted every five years
Source: The Ga mbia: Human De velopment Repor t – Gove rnance in The Gambia (20 00)
The President is the head of state and the Government and
together wi th hi s Secret ari es of State and Vi ce Presi dent c onsti tute
the C abinet or the E xecutive. The Vice Pres ident and all Se cretaries
of State are appointed by the President a nd ar e not allowed to be
members o f the National Assemb ly. The President is g enerally
requi red to make key consti tu tion al appoi ntments i n consul tati on
with other specified org ans of the state, although their approval is
not necess aril y requi red. These appoi ntments i nclude those of
Service Chiefs, J udges , Ombudsm an, Central Bank Boar d of Directors, Director of
Prosecutions as well as the Auditor General.
Source: World B ank (The Gambi a) – Co untr y Fina ncial Accountability Assessment ( June 2003)
A president can be rem oved from o ffice if a mo tion of no confidence is passed by the
National Assembly and is supporte d by two -thi rds of its m embers.
The vice president is responsible for answer ing mat ters af fecting th e presiden t in the
National As sembly. The president can also send messages to the National Assembly
throug h the Vi ce Presi dent.
Source: The Ga mbia: Human De velopment Repor t – Gove rnance in The Gambia (20 00)

2.3 J udici ary Br anch
Suprem e Court , Court of Appe al, Hig h courts, and Mag istrate courts.
The 1996 Constitution provides for an indepe ndent judiciary system . Judicial pow ers
are vested in the Co urts as sti pulated in section 120(2) while s ection 120 (3)
guarantees the independen ce of the judiciary.
The judicial system is comp rised of the Supreme C ourt, the Cour t of Appeal, high
courts, a nd ei ght magi strate courts. A Spec ial C rim inal C ourt also ex ist s. Vil lage
ch ief s presided ov er local cou rts at th e v illage lev el.12
The Sup rem e Cou rts con sist of the C hief Justice, four or more of the justices of the
Supreme Court, and a Court of A ppeal Ju dge. At any si tting an une ven num ber of
more than fi ve judges of the court shoul d preside. The chief just ice presid es or in
his/ her abs ence, t he m ost seni or judge of the court.
Before the setting-up of the Supreme C ourt, the Court of App eal was the country’ s
highest co urt. The members of the C ourt of Appeal consist of the President of the
Court , thre e or more justi ces and a judge o f the high court appoi nted to ac t a s the
justice of the appeal court. Presiding in th is cou rt is th e pres ident of the court.
The members of the Hi gh C ourt con sist of the ch ief Justice, seven or more justices
of the Hi gh Court a nd a ny jud ge of a superior court reques ted by the Chief Justice to
serve as ju dge for t his court. The court has jur isdi ction to hear and determi ne all ci vil
and crimin al proceedings, to interpret and enforce the fundam ental r ights and
freedoms as provided in section 1 8 to 33 and section 36(5).
11 From Yahya A . J. J. JA MM EH 199 4 to 1996 w as Chai rman of th e Junta. 12 U.S. D epart men t of State (Hu man Rights) – The Gambi a (2003)
6
Fact box :
chief of state and
head of gover nment:
President Y ahya A.
J. J. JAMMEH ( since
18 Octobe r 1996 11;
Vice President Isatou
Njie SAIDY (since 20
March 1997)
election result:
JAMMEH 52.9%,
Ousainou DARB OE
32.7%

The Speci al Crimin al Court is consti tuted by a panel consi sting of a Chai rman who
is a qu alified ju dge of the h igh cou rt wi th the approval of the Nati onal Assembl y. The
jurisdict ion of these cou rts ext ends t o hearin g an d det ermin ing al l crim inal of fenses
rel ating to theft, mi sappropri ati on and othe r si mil ar of fenses i n connecti on wi th
publ ic fund s and property, the l atter bei ng a new provi sion under the consti tuti on.
The pow er v ested in this cou rt is e qual t o that of the Hi gh Court as the provi sion i s
made f or the ju risdict ion to try all person s.
The second level comprises the Magi strate Courts ; the Cadi Court and Di stri ct
Tribu nals an d y et st ill l ower cou rts an d tribu nals ex ist .
The Cadi Co urt i s comp osed of a p anel consi sting of t he Cadi (the Mu slim Judge) and
two oth er sch olars of th e Sh aria qu alif ied t o be a Cadi o r Ulama for first hearing. A
panel comprising a Cadi and four U lama, ar e needed to sit for hearing on reviews.
The Cadi Court has ju risdi ction to appl y the Shari a in matters of marri age, di vorce
and i nheri tance, amo ng ot her t hings. The Cons tituti on empower s the co urt s to
interpret and enforce the provi sions of th e Cons tituti on and exer cise supervi sory
authority o ver all administra tive tribunals and bodies.
The judicial infrastructure an d access to the courts in the rural areas are considere d
poor compared to urba n areas.
Source: The Ga mbia: Human De velopment Repor t – Gove rnance in The Gambia (20 00) (edited )

2.4 Loc al Gove rn me nt
The legis lative f ramew ork for loc al gov ern ment in T he Gambia is in a per iod of
transi tion f ollowi ng th e enactmen t of t he Local Govemment Act, 20 02. The ne w Act
which was passed by the National Assemb ly on 9th April 2002, paved the way for
nati onwi de l ocal government el ecti ons th e foll owi ng month. T he Local Government
Act superseded the existing Local Government Act (Amende d 1984), Local
Government (City of B anjul) Act (Amended 1988), The Kanifing Municipal Council Act
1991 and the Provinces Act.
The L ocal G overn men t Act w as passed in an ticipat ion of subsidiary legislat ion , w hich
is y et to be en act ed. Delay s in the en act men t of the su bsidiary leg islation have led t o
consi derable confusi on over the r oles and responsibilities of the local gov ern men t
ex ecu tive part icu lar ly in relat ion to financial accou ntabil ity.
The L ocal Gov ern men t Act est ablish ed 7 loca l government areas each subdivided into
districts and wards for the election of co uncil members. T he Ch airperson of th e
Coun cil is e lect ed by el igib le v oters in the local gov ern men t area and cou ncilors are
elected by the wards. Additional non vo ting members of the co uncil include an
Alkalo 13 or S eyfo 14 representati ve, a Chi ef represen tati ve, a youth nomi nee, a woman
nomi nee and other no mi nated members of l ocal interest groups.
The executi ve of the council is heade d by th e Chi ef Exe cuti ve O ffice r (CEO ) who i s
responsible for mana gement of the affair s of the council and is the a ccou nting
officer. The CEO is answerable to the co uncil and reports to the Chairperson. The
department s of the co unci l include Fi nance, Servi ces, Pl anni ng an d Devel opmen t
each heade d by a Director.
The Local Government Act requires that Central Gover nment provide twenty five
percent of the councils’ development b udgets , but does not specify when the monies
13 Alkalo or Alkalolu – mean s vill age head p erso n and vill age hea dpers ons respect ivel y.
7
14 Seyfo or D istrict Ch ief – Cha irperson of d istrict au thor ity co mpr ising the S eyfo and all the A lkalolu of the d istrict.

are due to the council. To date (June 2003) no funds have been remitted to the
councils under this clause.
Source: World B ank (The Gambi a) – Co untr y Fina ncial Accountability Assessment ( June 2003) (edit ed)
8

33.. TThhee SS ttaattee aanndd CC iivviill SS oocciieettyy

3.1 O m budspe rso n
In 1997, the Gamb ia g overnment established the Office of the Ombudsman by an act
of parlia me nt th at consist s of the ombudsman and two deputies. The establishment
of the office is in conformity with Ch apter X sections 163, 164 and 165 of the 1996
Cons tituti on of t he Seco nd Rep ublic of T he Ga mbi a.
The functions of the o mbu dsman are, in ter alia:
• To in vestigat e compla ints of injustice, corru pt ion , abu se of pow er,
maladm inist ration an d u nfair t reatmen t of any person by a pu blic officer i n
the exercise of official duti es;
• To in vestigat e complai nts con cernin g t he funct ion ing of t he Public Serv ice
Commission, the administrative and security organs of the state, the polic e
an d prison serv ices in so f ar as t he compla ints relat e to the f ailu re t o ach iev e
a balan ced st ru cturing of those serv ices, or equ al access by all t o t he
recrui tment to t hose se rvi ces, or fa ir in relat ion to th ose serv ices.
The ombudsman is also expected to take appropriate remedia l actions on matters
that f all w ithin his/ her jurisdict ion as su ch :
• Recommend appropria te action or steps to call f or o r req uire t he remedy ing,
correction a nd reversal of matters or in stances specified in section 3 throug h
such means as are fair, proper and effective;
• Noti fy the p erson who l aid the mat ter before t he ombudsman of the outcome
of su ch in qu iry or investigat ion in su ch manner an d f orm as t he om bu dsman
may determine and to such exte nt as the o mbudsman may deem necessary
in the pu blic in terest or t hat th e mat ter sh all n ot be fu rth er en qu ire d in to or
investigated in terms of section 8.
As of da te, twenty-two cases are befo re the O ffice of t he Ombudsma n for
con siderat ion.
Source: The Ga mbia: Human De velopment Repor t – Gove rnance in The Gambia (20 00) (edited )

3.2 NGOs
NGOs register under a two-ti er system. First, they regi ster as charities at the
Attorney General ‘s Ch ambers un der the Co mpani es Act. T his al lows the e ntities to
operat e le gally , an d also prov ides l imited access to duty wa ivers. Ther e are
estimated t o be in the region of 1, 000 char ities in the Ga mbia, th e major ity of which
are very sm all.
Entities tha t meet the criter ia s et ou t in the NGO Dec ree 81 of 1996, can then
regi ster as an NGO wi th the N GO Affai rs Agency. T his all ows enti ties conti nued
access t o li mit ed du ty w aivers, raises t heir prof ile dom estical ly an d in tern ation ally
and permits registration with Th e Associ ation of NGOs (TANGO). It does ho wever
imply a regi strat ion an d an nu al f ee with N GO Af fairs plu s a h igh er lev el of scru tiny.
The Protoco l of Accord of the NGO Decree requi res al l NGOs to submi t to the N GO
Affairs Agency a detailed annual work prog ramme and budget. A t the end of the year
the N GO is requ ired t o su bmit a det ailed annual report, highlighting progress on
acti vities undertaken du ring the ye ar, work pl ans for t he f ollowi ng year and fi na nci al
9

statements audited by NGO Affairs Agency approved auditors. Those NGOs that do
not compl y wi th thi s requi rement shoul d ei ther be cauti oned or have the NGO status
revoked Al l NGOs are requi red t o have go verning boards of directors of at least
seven members responsible for policy and ma jor adminis trative decisions including
internal control.
There are 95 registered NGOs in the Gambia . Collect ively they acco unt for an a nnual
turnover of approxima tely D100 15. Approx imat ely h alf of this f unding is f rom don ors
and government; the other half being from NGO generated funds . However, this
informati on i s an esti mate, due to the figur es not being aggregated by TA NGO or
NGO Affai rs.
For the year 2002, a bout half r egistered NGOs submitted their reports to NGO
Affairs. The se reports were assessed by NG O Affairs to be generally satisfactory,
although there were ar eas of weak ness. Due t o the l imited size of most NGOs, they
do not have i nternal audi t functi ons. N ot all the reports submi tted were
independently audited, as is required by the NGO Decree. This re flects the high
relat ive cost of au dit ing, part icu larly for small NGOs. In r esponse to this, the Ag ency
accept letters from donors stating that th e NG Os financial statements are acceptable
to them. F or those NGOs that d o not have a rel iable system of audi t or their
accounts ar e not s ubject to donor scrutiny, the NGO affairs office insists on an
independent audit.
The N GO Af fairs Ag en cy h as 13 staf f. The 20 03 budget provides only for recur rent
expendi ture, wi th no devel opment budget for training, ca pacity building works hops
or ev en for fundin g th e capit al requ ired f or mon itorin g an d ev alu ation . Follow -up an d
compl iance moni tori ng by t he NGO Affai rs Ag ency is therefore tightly constrained by
capacity and budget c onstraint s. As a resu lt, mon itorin g is n ot ef fectively bein g
carried ou t, an d financial accou ntabil ity of all N GOs cannot be assu red.
The NGO Affairs Agency has also recently re structured its programme staff to ensure
that individual staff roles co ntribu te ef fectively to th e ov erall purpose of the Agency
New units have been established for mo nitori ng and eval uati on, i nformat ion,
educati on and communi cati on t o respond to the g rowi ng demand for NGO
information and communication. T he Agency intends to s et up a database accessible
thoug h a w ebsi te and f acilitated th rough a local area network.
The N GO Decree is cu rren tly bein g rev iewed for enactment. The ne ed for
amendments reflects the changes taki ng place in government, including
decen traliz ation an d l ocal gov ernmen t reform. T his rev iew s hou ld al low t he
leg islat ion to be mor e flex ible, in respon se to the li mi ted capaci ty and resources of
many NGOs.
Source: World B ank (The Gambi a) – Co untr y Fina ncial Accountability Assessment ( June 2003) (edit ed) 16

3.3 Ci vil Society
Gambian society is made up of eight ethnic grou ps. Islam is t he predomin an t relig ion
an d coex ist s in h armo ny w ith other re ligion s. Societ y is pat riarch al an d h ierarch ical
with a tradit ion al div isio n of labou r based on cult ural v alues, cast e, sex an d age.
Source: Europe an Commission (Development) – Countr y Strateg y Paper and I ndicative Programme (2002-200 7)
Recogn izing t he fact th at a v acuu m ex ist s bet ween the f ormal in stitution s at th e
divisional level and the vi llage communi ties in terms of developmen tal instruments,
15 The exchange rate in Fe bruary 20 04 w as approx imate ly US$ 1 = GM D 39 ( Afr ican D evelopment Bank )
10
16 See a lso Repub lic of The Gamb ia Statehou se – Budge t Spe ech 2004: IX. Non-G overnme nta l Organ izat ions, and UND ESA/D ivision for Susta inab le Deve lopm ent – Nati ona l Implementati on of Age nda 21: G ambi a (2 002)

the Government of The Gambia continues to experiment with the establishme nt of
community based development organs s uch as divisional de velopm ent committees
(DDC s), v illage dev elopmen t commu nities ( VDCs) an d dev elopm en t t ask forces
(DTFs) as veh icles f or f osterin g dev elopmen t at grass root lev el.
These com munity ba sed organs a re viable st ructures for grass roots mobilization and
organizatio n, as they play a critical ro le in the trai ning of the c ommuni ties and
represent the vulnerable groups. These organs function side by si de wi th tradi tional
communi ty organs – kafos, whi ch are usua lly gender or peer groupi ngs m ostl y
engaged in socio-cultural activit ies.
The f unc tioni ng of thes e tradi tional communi ty based organi zati ons ha s not been up
to expectation due to their we ak struct ures, lack of proper orien tation an d
coordin ation, ov er polit iciz ation and su b- opt imal operat ion al procedu res.
Source: The Ga mbia: Human De velopment Repor t – Gove rnance in The Gambia (20 00) (edited )
11

44.. CC iivviill SS eerrvviiccee

4.1 Leg al basis
The Public Service of the Government of The Gambia derives its authority from
Chap ter XI Sections 166-171 of the 1997 Cons titution. The Public S ervice comprises
the C ivil S erv ice, L ocal G overn men t Au th orit ies an d P ublic E nterprises as w ell as
executive agencies.
The po wer to mak e appoi ntments, re moval from offi ce, reappoi ntment,
rein stateme nts an d the ex ercise of discipl inary con trol is vest ed in th e P ublic Serv ice
Commission. 17
The po wer to appoi nt t he Head of the Civil Serv ice, C hairman and members of the
Public Serv ice C ommis sion sh all b e ex ercise d by the Pre sident of the Republic. The
appoi ntment to the o ffice of Perma nent Secr etary of a department of Government on
the other hand is exercised by The Presiden t i n cons ultati on wi th th e Head of t he
Civil Se rv ice. The P erson nel M anagemen t Of fice (PMO) i s under t he Offi ce of th e Vi ce
President. 18
Source: CAFRA D – Questionnair e on National Pu blic Admini strations in Africa: The Gambia (2 002)
Not available online
The legisl ative f ramew ork for h uman resou rce man agemen t in the pu blic serv ice is
captured i n the Cons tituti on, 1 997 and t he Publ ic Service Act, 19 91. T he Pu blic
Service Commission Regula tions, 1994, General Order s, 1994 and the Cod e of
Conduct of The Gambia C ivil Serv ice prov ide t he det ailed regu lat ion s f or civ il ser vice
management.
Source: World B ank (The Gambi a) – Co untr y Fina ncial Accountability Assessment ( June 2003)

4.2 R ecrui tment
The P ublic Serv ice C ommission c onsiders an d deci des on al l matters rel ating to
appointments, promoti ons, under PSC Regulation 14.
All appo intmen ts an d promot ion s are in w riting in ac cordan ce wit h t he Act an d
Regu lat ion s. M inimu m qu alif icat ion s for appoin tmen t to any post in the pu blic ser vice
are st ipu lated in the Sch eme of Serv ice applic able t o that C adre.
The Commission, in order to discharge its du ties under Regulation 14, shall exercise
su perv ision ov er an d approv e al l Sch emes f or admiss ion to the pu blic of fice, and
overall methods of recrui tment i ncludi ng th e appointment and procedures of Bo ards
for the selection of ca ndidates.
PSC Regu lat ion 16 requ ires t hat all v acan cies t hat ex ist w ithin the C ivil Ser vice
sh ou ld be adv ertised.
Source: CAFRA D – Questionnair e on National Pu blic Admini strations in Africa: The Gambia (2 002)
Not available online

17 This does not apply, however, any office in the s ervice o f a lo cal g overnment authority, in the s ervice o f Pu blic Enterp rises, o r as a me mb er of th e d isciplined f orces
12
18 allAfrica. com – “Wome n Civil Servants M ust March. ..” (Ju ly 16 , 2004)

4.3 Pro m otion
PSC Regu lat ion 19 st ipulates t hat w hen off icers are to b e considered for promotion
merit , abi lity, sen iorit y, ex perien ce, an d of ficial qu alification s sh all be t aken into
account.
Source: CAFRA D – Questionnair e on National Pu blic Admini strations in Africa: The Gambia (2 002)
Not available online

4.4 R em unerati on
Salar ies are paid accordin g t o th e Cen tral Government’s Integrat ed Pa y Scale scales.
These pay scales are highly uncom petitive when compared with the p rivate sector or
donor organizations operating in The Gambia.
Source: World B ank (The Gambi a) – Co untr y Fina ncial Accountability Assessment ( June 2003) (edit ed)

4.5 Tr aini ng
Trai ning of Ci vil Servants i n manageme nt admi nistration, fi nanci al management,
developmen t and gender issues continue to be cond ucted at t he Manage ment
Developme nt In stitu te. Wit h the assistance of the Cap acit y Bu ild ing an d E con omic
Managemen t Program (CBE MP) , trai ning of Ci vil Servants has been possi ble,
especia lly for t he rev enue-gen erat ing in stitutions.
An ot her import an t local t rain ing ex ercise has focused on records management under
the Nati ona l Records Servi ces (NRS) Depa rtment. The National Records Services’
initiat ives have registered success in the management of fi nan cial, judi cial and
hospital/health records in the past three years.
Overseas trai ning has been constrai ned mainly by lack of resources, and the
av ailab ility of foreign ex ch an ge and t his h as resu lted in fewer n umbers bein g se nt for
training ove rseas. Therefore, for the time be ing, focu s is on loca l gr ou p t rain ing, on –
the job tr aining exercises, and chea per r egional programmes. For 2004, the
emph asis o n select ive loca l t raining pack ages at t he M anagement D evelopmen t
Institute.
Source: Republic of The Gambia Statehouse – Budget Speech 200 4: XII. Governan ce
The Person nel Management Offi ce hol ds th e trai ning budget for all staff trai ning,
centrally. The 2002 training budget for th e entire civil serv ice amounted to
D4.5milion for oversees and D700,000 for local training. 19
Source: World B ank (The Gambi a) – Co untr y Fina ncial Accountability Assessment ( June 2003)

4.6 Retirement an d pensi on
PSC Regu lat ion 26 – Public Of ficers can ret ire v oluntarily or be ret ire d compu lsori ly at
the age of 45 years and over. The st atutor y retirement age is 55 years.
Pensi ons an d Gratui ty benefi ts are authori sed and approved by the Pensi on Auth ori ty
(PS C) unde r the pro visions of the Pensions Act 1950, CAP.137.
Source: CAFRA D – Questionnair e on National Pu blic Admini strations in Africa: The Gambia (2 002)
Not available online

13
19 The exchange rate in Fe bruary 20 02 w as approx imate ly US$ 1 = GM D 19 ( Afr ican D evelopment Bank )

4.7 Gen der
The total aggregate number of civil se rvants (excl uding uni formed servi ces) equal ed
11,610 in 2 002. 3,739 (32%) were female, and 7,871 (68 % ) were m ale.
Source: CAFRA D – Questionnair e on National Pu blic Administrations in Africa: The Gambia (2 002) (edited)
14
Not available online

55.. EEtthhiiccss aanndd CC iivviill SS eerrvviiccee

5.1 C orru ption
2003 CPI Score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by
business people and co untr y analysts and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0
(hi ghly corr upt) .

Co rruptio n Pe rce ptio ns Inde x

2003 C PI Score Surveys Use d Standard Dev iation High-Lo w Range Num ber Inst.
90 pe rcent conf idence range
Rank Country
1 Highl y clean 9.7 8 0.3 9.2 – 10. 0 4 9.5 – 9. 9
92 Gambia, The 2.5 4 0.9 1.5 – 3. 6 4 1.7 – 3. 1
133 Highl y corrup t 1.3 8 0.7 0.3 – 2. 2 6 0.9 – 1. 7
Source: Transpa renc y Inte rnation al – Corruption P erceptions Index 2003
Surveys U sed: Refers to the number of surve ys that were used to assess a country’s perfor mance. 17 surve ys were
used and at least 3 surve ys were required for a cou ntry to be included in the CPI.
Stand ard De viation: Indicates differences in the values of the sour ces. Values belo w 0.5 indicate ag reement, values
bet ween 0.5 and c. 0.9 indicate some agreeme nt, while va lues equ al or larger t han 1 indicate disagreement.
High -Lo w Rang e: Provides the h ighest and lowest values of the sources.
Num ber Ins tituti ons: Refe rs to th e number of inde pendent institutions that assessed a countr y’s perf ormance. Since
some institutions provided more t han one surve y.
90 perce nt confi dence ra nge : Provides a range of possible values of the CPI score. With 5 percent p robabilit y the score
is above this range and with anot her 5 pe rcent it is below .

In J uly 2004, Gambia’ s an ti-corrupt ion commission be gan h earings in th e capit al
Ban jul, w ith min isters pu blicly det ailin g t heir pe rsonal finances to the seven-member
panel. The commiss ion is part of Pr esid ent Yahya Jammeh’s “Operatio n No
Compromise”. N o e lected m ember o f p arliament w ill h ave to a ppear a nd n either w ill
the president.
Source: IRINNE WS.OR G – “Corruption commission begins hearin gs…” (20 Jul y, 2004)

5.2 Ethics
The Gambia has a variety of instruments to assist in u pholding et hics an d in tegrit y in
the p ublic admi nistrati on. Th ese instruments are primar ily to regul ate the co nd uc t of
those holdi ng pu blic of fice. Some of th e in stru men ts that are in place in clu de t he
follow ing:
• The Gambia C ivil Serv ice C ode of Con duct wh ose main pu rpose is t o gu ide t he
civil servants i n order that they m ay avoi d conduc t whi ch may undermi ne the
integrit y and ef fective ren derin g of se rvices for which they are employ ed;
• The PS C R egulations, 1994 to p rovide for operations of the PS C and the
conduc t of publ ic servants;
• Chap ter XXI of The Ga mbi a Consti tuti on provi des for a Code of Con duct for
Public Of ficers in clu ding declarat ion of assets on assuming office and two
years there after and o n leaving office;
15

16
• Gambia Public Procurement Act, 2001 wh ich sets out the basic principles and
procedures to be applied in the pub lic procurement of goods, works and
services;
The Gambia Code of Conduct for Public Officers complies with the International Code
of Conduct for Public Officials that was approved by the United Nations General
Assembly in 1997. It deals with issues of conflict of interest, disclosure of assets,
acceptance of gifts, confidential information and involvement in political activities.
In addition, the Local Government Act, 2002 outlines major legislative scrutiny,
ethics and integrity guidelines.
There were however indications that so me of the regulations were not being
enforced rigorously and therefore raising questions over th eir overall effectiveness in
instilling a culture of discipline in the civil service. It was further noted that the
various codes of conduct and public servic e procedures were designed largely to
address issues of human resour ce management in general and in particular industrial
relations aspects.
Source: World Bank (The Gambia) – Country Financial Accountability Assessment (June 2003)

66.. ee–GG oovveerrnnmm eenntt

e-Go vernmen t
Readi ness In dex:
The inde x refe rs to the
generic capacity or
aptitude of the p ublic
sector to use ICT for
encapsulating in public
services and deploy ing
to the public, high
quality infor mation
(explicit know led ge) and
effective communication
tools that support
human developm ent.
The inde x is comprised
of three sub -inde xes:
Web Measure In dex,
Telecommunications
Infrastructure Ind ex and
Human Capital I ndex.

0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
Gambi
a
Ghana

Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Mauritania
Nigeria
Seneg
al
Sierra Leone
e- Gov ernm ent R eadin ess Index
6.1 e -Gove rnme nt Re adi ness

Web Measure Index:
A scale based on
progressively
sophisticated w eb
services present.
Coverage an d
sophistication of state-
provided e-service and
e-product availability
correspond to a
numerical classification.
Source: United N ations – World Public Sector Report 2003
17
Teleco mm uni cations
Infrastr ucture In dex:
A composite, w eighted
average inde x of six
primar y indices, based
on basic infrastructural
indicators that define a
countr y’s ICT infr a-
structure capacity.
Primar y indicator s are:
PC’s, Internet us ers,
online population and
Mobile phones.
Secondar y indica tors
are TVs and t elephone
lines.

Huma n Ca pital Index :
A composite of the adult literac y rate and the com bined primar y, secondar y and ter tiary gross enrolm ent ratio, with t wo thirds of the weight
given to adult literac y and one thir d to the gr oss enrolment ratio.

0
0.1
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.2

Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Mauritania
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leon
e
W eb M easur e Index Telecom . Infr astr ucture In dex Human C apital Index
Source: United N ations – World Public Sector Re port 2003

e-Partici pation
Index :
Refer s to the willing-
ness, on the part of
the government , to
use ICT to p rovide
high qualit y infor ma-
tion (explicit know-
ledge) and eff ective
communication tools
for the specific
purpose of emp ower-
ring people for able
participation in
consultations and
decision-making both
in their capacity as
consumers of pu blic
services and as
citizens.
6.2 e -Partic ipati on
e-informa tion:
The govern ment
websites offer
information on
policies and
programs, b udge ts,
law s and regulati ons,
and other briefs of
key public interest.
Tools for dissemi-
nating of informa tion
exist for timel y access
and use of public
information, including
web forums, e -mail
lists, new sgroups and
chat rooms.
e-decis ion maki ng:
The govern ment
indicates that it will
take citizens input
into account in
decision making and
provides actual
feedback on the
outcome of specific
issues.
e-co nsul tati on:
The govern ment website explains e-consultation mechanisms and tool s. It offers a choice of public policy topics online for disc ussion w ith
real time and arc hived access to audios and vi deos of public meetings. The gover nment enc ourag es citizens to participate in dis cussions.
18
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Gambi
a
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Mauritania
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone

e-inform atio n e-d ecision m aking e-cons ultation
Source: United N ations – World Public Sector Report 2003 d
0
0.0 5
0.1
0.1 5
0.2
0.2 5
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Mauritania
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone

e-Particip ation Index
Source: United N ations – World Public Sector Report 2003 d

77.. LLiinnkkss

7.1 Nati onal sites
Author ity Topic
Statehou se https:// www .state house.gm/
Pres ide nt https:// www .state house.gm/preside nt.html
Nat ional As sembly https:// www .nation alassembly .gm/

Depar tment of State for Trade and, Ind ustry and Emp loym ent https:// www .gambi a.gm/

New Gamb ia https:// www .newgambia.gm/

7.2 Mi scellan eous si tes
Institu tion Topic
African Dev elopme nt Ba nk (A DB ) https:// www .afdb. org/
Afri can I nstitute for Econo mic D evel opment and Plan ning (I DE P) https:// www .unide p.org/
African Training and Resear ch Centre in Administra tion for D evel opment (C AFR AD) https:// www .caf rad.org/
African Un ion ( AU) https:// www .africa-union.org/
European Un ion (EU) https://euro pa.eu.i nt/comm/development/ACP countr ies
Inter nationa l Labour Organiz ation (ILO ) – NATLEX https:// www .ilo.org /dyn/natle x/natle x_bro wse.home
New Partnership for Afri ca’s Devel opment (NEPA D) https:// www .nepa d.org/
Transparency I nter nationa l – CORIS https:// www .co risw eb.org/ article/ar chive/51
Uni ted N ations Econo mic Commi ssion for Afri ca (ECA ) https:// www .uneca .org/
Un ited Na tio ns Sy ste m in Th e Gamb ia https:// www .un.g m/
UN PA N https:// www .unpa n.org/virtual_libra ry-byregion.asp
World Bank (W B) https:// www .world bank.org/gm
19