The National Assembly member for Lower Baddibu, Hon. Alhaji Ablie Suku Singhateh, was among various parliamentarians from the West African sub-region that converged on the Ecowas Parliament building in Abuja to participate in the meeting of the sub-committee of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Election of Members by Direct Universal Suffrage and Enhancement of Powers of the Ecowas Parliament.

Hon. Singhateh was appointed to represent The Gambia in the sub-committee of the Ad Hoc Committee following its inauguration in January of this year in an extraordinary session in Abuja. The Sub-Committee was composed of the Bureau of the Ad Hoc Committee, three additional members of the Ad Hoc Committee and three members of the Ecowas Parliament’s Secretariat.

In an exclusive interview with this paper shortly after his return, Hon. Singhateh explained that the purpose of the Sub-Committee was to lay out a road map for the work of the Ad Hoc Committee, adding that the meeting, held from 16-20 July, has helped the Sub-Committee to exhaustively consider all the proposals made by members of the ad hoc committee.

"After immediately considering all the proposals made by the members of the Ad-hoc Committee, the Sub-Committee members then made proposals on how the work should most effectively be organized. It was then agreed that the road map, which is to be proposed, should tie events to a timetable.

"A proposal for the holding of a sensitization workshop on the electoral codes of member states for members of the Ad-hoc Committee to allow members become conversant with issues and to bring latest developments on board was also made among many others," he added.

Meanwhile, among those who took part in the Abuja meeting were Hon. Yormie Johnson of Liberia, Hon. Salamata Bala Goga of Niger, Mrs. Isatou Combeh Njie, Legal Adviser to the Ecowas Parliament, Hon. Jonathan Zwingina of Nigeria and Hon. Maria R.L. Da Silva of Cape Verde.