On Monday December 4, the National Assembly adjourned its sitting on the annual budget estimates for the 2007 fiscal year to the following day, Tuesdy, due to the absence of the Secretary of State for Finance and Economic Affairs, Mousa Bala Gaye.

Shortly after the opening of the session, the Clerk of the National Assembly read the agenda for the sitting, but it was later discovered that the Secretary of State was absent. George Azzi, the Deputy Speaker who presided over the proceedings, then adjourned the session to Tuesday. He said,“since the responsible Secretary of State is not available, the assembly will be adjourned”.

But the SoS’s absence did not go down well with members of the National Assembly, who wasted no time in condemning the move.

Sidia Jatta, the Member for Wuli West, asked members not to allow such re-occurrances in the National Assembly. “This is a state function like any other state activity. The Secretary of State responsible should have been present [sic] or he should have alerted the Clerk rather than keeping us here like nursery school children. This is improper and unacceptable”, he said.

Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay, a nominated member, said, “it is a constitutional requirement for Secretaries of State to be present when needed by the Assembly. We should have been notified earlier”.

Several other members expressed similar sentiments and called on Secretaries of State to give the National Assembly the respect it deserves.