HON. SPEAKER’S REPORT ON THE MINUTES OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AUTHORITY MEETINGS AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PROJECT STEERING COMMITTEE MEETINGS OF 2011

Objective and Purpose

The object and purpose of this Report is to provide the Honourable Members with updates of all the Policy Issues and Programmes being formulated, discussed and implemented by the National Assembly Authority during the period of 2011.

It is the only hope that by providing Hon. Members with a summary of the Minutes of the National Assembly Authority Meetings and the National Assembly Project Steering Committee Meetings; the Office of the Hon. Speaker shall be able to adequately inform and update All and Sundry on all the major policy issues for the last 12 months.

In all there are Six Minutes listed as appendixes I, II, III, IV, V, and VI. The Minutes of the respective meetings are herein summarized.

National Assembly Authority Meeting of 10^th March 2011

At its Meeting of 10^th March 2011, chaired by the Honourable Speaker, the Authority had considered the following agenda items:

· Preparations for the 2011 State Opening of the National Assembly

· Administrative issues

The Authority has approved for a Taskforce that was formed to coordinate the preparation and other logistics for the 2011 State Opening of the National Assembly held on Friday 25^th March 2011. The Taskforce had indeed performed satisfactorily and we had witnessed a successfully event.

On agenda item 2, the meeting had considered some administrative issues with urgent attention and has approved that the Office of the Clerk to address those issues accordingly.

As no other business was discussed the meeting was adjourned sine-die.

Authority Meeting of 15^th June 2011

The agenda for the Meeting of 15^th June 2011, were as follows:

· Minutes of the Meeting of 10^th March 2011

· Clerk’s proposal on Staff redeployment/re-designation

· Rent agreements for National Assembly Annex

· Report on the UNDP Support Project to the National Assembly

The Authority had adopted the Minutes of the Meeting of 10^th March 2011; and also approved the recommendations by the Clerk on the redeployment and re-designation of some staff based on qualifications and high performance.

Considering the limited office space for some units of the Assembly Service, the Authority had also approved for the provision of an Annex building on rent for the Committee Secretariat, Protocol and Press units.

The Clerk laid before the Authority a comprehensive report on the activities of the UNDP Support Project to the National Assembly, which was adopted.

Under AOB, the Authority took note of the request from the Personnel Management Office (PMO) for the re-designation of Mr. Mustapha Jammeh to be appointed as Deputy Clerk II; but resolved that the appointment will be conducted in the normal procedure through an interview.

The meeting ended and adjourned until July 2011.

Authority Meeting of 05^th July 2011

At its Meeting of 05^th July 2011, the National Assembly Authority has considered, reviewed and adopted the Draft Estimates of 2012 of the National Assembly.

The Meeting also raised a concern on the single representation of the National Assembly at the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly over the years, and resolved that a budget line be provided to cater for the full representation in both the Assembly and Committee Sessions of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly.

Other matters discussed were the Summer Recess for National Assembly Members from 01^st – 31^st August 2011; and the weeding exercise at the Jurunku Farm that took place on the 29^th to 31^st July 2011.

The meeting adjourned sine-die.

National Assembly Project Steering Committee Meeting of 11^th March 2011

The Project Steering Committee (PSC) is the approving body for the implementation of project activities as per the Annual Work Plan (AWP). The Committee Members are:

1. 1. Hon. Speaker as the Chair
2. 2. Resident Representative, UNDP
3. 3. Office of the Secretary General
4. 4. Embassy of Taiwan, Banjul
5. 5. Embassy of the United States of America, Banjul
6. 6. Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain, Banjul
7. 7. Clerk of the National Assembly, Secretary

At its meeting of 11^th March 2011, chaired by the Honourable Speaker, the meeting considered and adopted the 2010 Annual Report and the 2011 Annual Work Plan respectively.

The 2010 Annual Report spelt out the implementation level of the project activities during the year, while the 2011 Annual Work Plan details the intended activities to be implemented for the period of 2011. The Annual Work Plan was approved, which was forwarded to the UNDP and implementation of the activities have begun.

The meeting was adjourned until 13^th April 2011; which has not taken place.

Project Steering Committee Meeting of 26^th October 2011

The Meeting of 26^th October 2011 was chaired by the Hon. Deputy Speaker. Following the adoption of the agenda, the first item was a minute silence prayer in respect of the late Mr. Janko Fofana, Committee Member representing the United States of America. This sad event took place in August, 2011.

The second item was the review and adoption of the Minutes of the Meeting of 11^th March 2011; which was adopted with amendments. This was followed with matters arised from the minutes.

The last item discussed was the evaluation of Bids from Consultants for the advertised consultancies of:

i) Consultancy to develop a National Assembly Communication Strategy

and ICT master Plan;

ii) Consultancy to prepare Training Materials, Manuals and Literature for

NAMs on core Functions of Representation, legislating and Oversight

Roles;

iii) Consultancy to prepare a Parliamentary Guidance Handbook for NAMs;

iv) Consultancy to produce a Draft Parliamentary Bill that clearly defines

the status of Parliament as an Arm of Government; and

v) Consultancy to develop Organogram, Service Rules, Scheme of Service

and Terms of Reference (ToR) for Parliamentary Staff.

The above bids were closely reviewed and based on standard qualifications the Committee awarded the most qualified bidders. The duration for the above tasks was for a period of one month; which commenced on 01^st – 30^th November 2011.

The meeting was adjourned until on the 16^th November 2011.

Project Steering Committee Meeting of 23^rd November 2011

This Meeting was also chaired by the Hon. Deputy Speaker, and the agenda of the meeting were:

· Adoption of the agenda;

· Adoption of the Minutes of the Meeting of 26^th October 2011;

· Evaluation of Drafts from Consultants;

· Consideration of Invoices for the Pre-Budget Retreat; and

· Any Other Business (AOB).

Following the adoption of the agenda, the Meeting considered and reviewed the Minutes of the Meeting of 26^th October 2011. Matters arised from the minutes were discussed and it was finally adopted with amendments.

The agenda item on the evaluation of Drafts from Consultants, the Meeting noted that two of the drafts were below standard and were returned for amendments and corrections. The deadline for submission of the final drafts on all the consultancies was 30^th November 2011; followed by a validation workshop on the drafts scheduled on 15^th December 2011.

The meeting was adjourned until 01^st December 2011 to consider the final drafts from the Consultants.

Copies of the aforementioned Minutes are attached and marked as appendix I to VI for your information and records.

I now move that this Report by the Honourable Speaker on the Minutes of the Meetings of the National Assembly Authority and that of the Project Steering Committee be considered and adopted by this Honourable Assembly.

Thank you and I beg to move.